My Journey To The West
by eleezyienne
Summary: Eli's a violet eyed Mestiza who lives an ordinary life. Life sucks, no big deal. But everything changes when she meets a mysterious woman who leads her to a very weird destiny. (Ew, eeky Summary)
1. Kamatayan

**Journey To The West **

** By: Eleezyienne **

**Author's Notes: **Hello! This is my first story in English. Please bear with all those wrong grammars and wrong spelling. I'm still thinking if I can handle writing stories in English. Well, that's it. Thank you.

* * *

CHAPTER 1: Kamatayan

"I'm back, dad!" Eli shouted upon entering their house. She was tired, sleepy and hungry. School was never a fun place especially when you're one of the outcasts. She sighed and threw herself to the couch. "Hey, Dad! I'm back!"

No answer.

She looked at her watch and figured out that he wasn't home yet. Looking up the ceiling, she forced herself to remember what happened to her that day. She got her journal from her bag and started to write down.

_'Dear Eli,_

_ Today was pretty ordinary. A lot of bad things happened to me, obviously. Let me see, flunked the Math quiz, barely passed Chemistry, got hit by a ball at lunchtime-that kind of hurt, knocked off a weird kid, got scolded by the mother of weird kid, lost my I.D., oh and who could forget-guys in school made my life a living hell. Don't worry; there are some good things that happened to me, too. I topped History Quiz. It was about Greece-chicken feeds. I fed the school cats. I wonder why they never feed the school cats. Oh yeah, Music Lesson was great even though the majority hates me. I guess that's all. See you tomorrow.'_

Eli looked at her journal and read her previous entries. It was almost identical. She sighed and smiled at herself. It was funny how life can bore the hell out of you. It wasn't ordinary, though. Not all girls gets teased almost every second of their life. She had accepted that she just didn't fit in anywhere.

She lives in Bacolod, a small city in the Philippines. She studies in a Chinese school and lives with her family. Her father has an accounting firm together with her mother. She has a brother who was a genius in cheating in PC games. He is a geek but is contented of being so. Pretty ordinary, right? 

Life would but there's just one thing, Eli had violet eyes. So what? Well, it's not normal for a Filipina to have violet eyes. Her mother had always told her that violet eyes were adorable ("Elizabeth Taylor had them.") but she just can't get it why people feared her for that. She asked some why and they would tell her that witches had violet eyes just like hers. That reason is so pathetic. Who would still believe in witches these days? 

She tried to fit in but after a lot of self-degrading events, she figured out that people weren't ready to accept her, not yet. She had promised herself a year ago that she would make the society accept her but that promise is on the verge of being broken.

Eli leaned on her bag and wondered what life has in store for her. She wished there was more. She yawned and fell asleep.

* *

"Eleezyienne, you must go now!" A voice shouted at her. Everything was dark and she couldn't make out where that voice came from. "Don't forget your destiny! Live and continue the legend we started."

_"Who are you?" she shouted not knowing what to do. The voice scared her. It sounded so urgent & pitiful at the same time._

_"Just go and Journey to the west…find your destiny." _

_ Eli looked around and saw a bright light. She headed to it taking a good look. She saw 4 men camping in what seemed to be a forest. And although it looked like they were having a hard time, they were evidently happy. _

_"This was your destiny." _

* *

Eli woke up sweating. It was a dream.

* *

"What do you mean you'd be leaving for Manila?" Eli cleared balancing the phone between her right shoulder and head.

"There was an emergency, Eli. We need to go. Your brother called me, he's sleeping over at Ricardo's house so you won't have any problems there."

"But what about food?" Eli grimaced hoping her mother could see her.

"You know how to cook, honey. There's some stuff in the fridge."

"I'd be alone in here?"

"Yes, honey. So better be careful."

"Yeah, but…"

"Oh, we have to go now," her mother butted in, "Don't forget to lock all the doors, don't let anyone enter the house, be sure to feed Polaris and don't forget to pray."

"Yes, mom."

"I love you, bye-bye."

Eli sighed and hanged up the phone. "I love you too."

* *

She headed to the fridge & found it bare except for some left over yesterday. "Yeah right, mom." She got a frozen fried chicken and reheated it in the microwave. Watching the microwave, she thought about her dream. It was so vivid. She could have thought that it was real all along. Who was that voice? It sounded so desperate and scary at the same time. And who were those 4 guys she saw? She remembered the voice's last words 'This was your destiny'. Was something about to happen? She shook her head and forced a laugh. Nothing ever special happens to a girl like her and she knows it will stay just like that. Forever.

She was brought back to reality by the screeching sound of the microwave. She smiled at herself at the thought of her being destined for something. "Destiny, my butt." She got the fried chicken and giggled. "The only destiny I have is to get rid of these awful eyes."

An hour passed after the call and Eli was preparing to sleep. It was kind of early but she figured out that she needed the rest. Just when she was about to enter her room, a voice shouted in a plea, "Help, please."

She tried to ignore the voice and headed to her room but something, her stupid conscience, stopped her. She turned to get the door. She opened it and saw a lady with ebony hair. She wore tattered clothes and had a sapphire necklace around her. "Help me." Worried, Eli let her in.

* *

"Sorry, about the fried chicken. That's all I can fix you." Eli apologized as she handed the lady a glass of water. The lady just smiled and ate with great haste.

"You seem to be in a hurry."

No answer. "So what's up with you?"

Still no answer.

Eli was beginning to think that she was deaf. "Are you deaf?"

"No, kind lady." An answer.

"So what happened to you? Have you gotten yourself in a fight or something?"

"No, kind lady."

Eli scratched her head. Okay…

Eli smiled and asked some more, "If you don't mind, can you tell me your name?"

"It's Kamatayan."

Eli shook her hands, "Nice to meet you, Kamatayan." Then suddenly just as the were about to shake hands, she jolted away from the stranger, "Kamatayan?! D-death? Did you just say your name was death?"

The woman nodded as she stood up.

Eli pushed herself back from the table. She and her stupid head. She should have taken her mother's reminder seriously. But then this was so pathetic. She bet this was just a lame joke her brother was putting on her. Yup, that could be it.

Good costumes, though.

"Ok, you can cut that out EG. You got me."

The woman looked at her confusingly. Her eyes were staring at hers directly in a creepy kind of way and that spooked her out BIG TIME.

She giggled nervously, "You're a great actor, GI. You could win an Oscar with that. So, knock it off." Please don't let it be a deranged thief.

The woman signaled her to come her. She smiled slowly and it was even creepier.

Eli backed away slowly, "You're not EG?"

She shook her head.

"What do you want?"

* *

"Have you heard of the Legend Of Heaven?" Kamatayan started as she positioned herself comfortably on the couch. Eli eyed her and didn't answer. She wanted to know what this lunatic really wanted. As if reading her mind, Kamatayan replied with a grin, "I'm not crazy, Eli."

Did she just say her name? Eli gulped, "You know me?"

Kamatayan smirked, "Of course, I know you. I watched you ever since your 1st life, how could I not know you?" Eli gulped again. "I don't trust you."

Kamatayan smiled, "I know. How can you trust me anyway? We just met." She smiled and patted Eli's shoulder. Eli kept her distance and shoved her off.

"Are you going to rob me? Take what you want, just don't hurt me."

Kamtayan rolled her eyes, "Do I really look like a thief to you?" Eli nodded. With that Kamatayan smiled and turned around. A violet light surrounded her and the next thing Eli knew; she was facing a beautiful woman with jet-black hair and violet eyes. Violet eyes, just like hers. Eli closed her eyes and shook her head violently. She must be losing her mind right now.

"Stop it. That won't do you good." Kamatayan informed as she seated herself again. Eli looked at her confusingly and asked, "Who the hell are you?"

Kamatayan sighed, "Death, that's my name." Hearing that, Eli decided to make a run for it but then, "I can help you fulfill your destiny, Eleezyienne." Eli turned to look at her. Kamatayan grinned, "I can help you journey to the west."

Eli's eyes suddenly widened as her dream a moment ago came flashing back in he mind, "Who are you?"

Kamatayan sighed. This was going to be a long night.

* *

"Sanzo! Where are we going?" Goku whined as he slumped at the back of THE jeep. No answer. "Oy Sanzo! Where are we going? I'm hungry and tired and sleepy and itchy. Where are we heading?" Still no answer. "This isn't fair! I'll die of hunger now!"

"Shut up, stupid monkey!" Gojyo burst as he hit Goku on the head.

Goku slumped more, "I was just asking, you horny water monster. I've got the right to know our destination."

"Who are you calling horny monster, stupid monkey?!"

"Who you calling stupid monkey, you sex deranged lunatic?!"

"What the? Hey, don't push it, kid."

Sanzo sighed. Hakkai smiled and cooled them down, "Maa… It's so hot today. Let's not fight, ok?" Sanzo shook his head. Finally, Gojyo decided to retreat. "But really Sanzo, we're we going? I noticed we were off the track two days ago."

"TWO DAYS?!" Goku butted in.

Hakkai looked at Sanzo and when he saw him nod, he finally explained. "We were off the track three days ago, actually."

"THREE days?!" Goku butted in again.

"Which word didn't you understand, baka? The guy said three days." Gojyo commented picking his ears, "And you two have been keeping this from us?"

Hakkai shook his head while Sanzo nodded. Gojyo looked at them suspiciously.

"We expected you to notice it but then you didn't," Sanzo looked at Gojyo, "I never thought you could be slow." Gojyo smirked.

"But where are we heading?" Goku was growing impatient by the moment. And all the while he thought that they we're actually stopping for a feast. He cleared his throat. But then, he's positive that this was something serious. Why would Sanzo and Hakkai keep this from them? It was understandable with Gojyo since the pervert is such a big mouth but this was HE they we're dealing with. SON GOKU. THE Son Goku. He decided to squeeze the truth out, "Come on, Sanzo. You could trust ME."

* *

"Hey!" That kid. Gojyo knew that the kid was pulling something off again. Trust him, huh? What a joke. Only a fool would tell something important to that monkey and expect it won't be forgotten. He understood why Sanzo and Hakkai kept this thing from that half demon- half monster freak, but why keep it from HIM? The most trusted among trusted friends? Ok, so maybe he was exaggerating a bit but he could at least keep a secret. How big could it be? He glanced at Hakkai and Sanzo. They didn't look like they're about to tell something, anything, from them. Wait, maybe this was a huge secret.

"We couldn't simply tell you this. We're still waiting for the right time. The goddess of love & mercy…"

"Hakkai, you're spilling too much." Sanzo cut him while lighting a cigarette.

Hakkai scratched his head, "Gomen."

Goku whined, "That's not fair, Sanzo! You're keeping something from us! You're keeping something really big." "Huge!" Gojyo added. Why not join the monkey?

Sanzo looked at them both. How pathetic. But then, they'll know sooner or later anyway."One word. Destiny." Sanzo tilted his head out from the jeep. Hakkai's smile seemed to be wider.

Goku and Gojyo looked at each other confusingly, "Eh?"

* * * OO * * *

*Please read and review if you do have time!


	2. Genesis Of The Journey

CHAPTER 2: Genesis of the Journey

Disclaimer: Do I own Saiyuki? Yeah right. 

*Sorry, I'm new to this fic writing... Review if you want, I won't beg! Hehe. And, please no flames. 

"Lets get this straight missy, I'm some kind of a guardian angel to you, only that I really don't guard you, I just watch you." Kamatayan started trying to get all things organized. They were way behind the schedule. 3 days behind to be exact. 

"You're my guardian angel who doesn't guard me but just watch me. Gee, I get it! Everything seems so clear all of a sudden," Eli replied sarcastically. This gal was making no sense, no sense at all! 

Kamatayan grinned, "That's what I like about you, Eli. 1st you're this push- over on the verge of killing herself and the next thing, you're the one who pushes it." She continued not giving Eli any chance to butt in, "Listen well. This is the whole story, ok? You're an outcast of the society. I mean, face it girl, everyone's literally dead-scared of you & your mysterious violet eyes. The doctor explained that it all came from your DNA." Eli nodded in consent. Funny, she was kind of embarrassed, though. 

"DNA, my butt!" Kamatayan exclaimed. Eli looked at her obviously taken aback. She was starting to like this Kamatayan a little bit. 

"People these days are just too closed minded," Kamatayan continued, "They completely forgot the ways of the past & the promise they did to the 7 worlds." She looked at Eli who was surprisingly listening intently. Kamatayan was glad she kept quiet & let her explain for a while. "The story started this way. At the time when history didn't exist yet, 7 siblings lived in a place that couldn't be described. It was beyond words since nothing was everything before. (Am I making sense?) Anyway, these 7 siblings had personal powers beyond any beings in the universe. They had the capability to control & create nature. It was not surprising that they were considered to be fragile beings since their power takes much of their energy. They were Thene of the ground, Sarah of the water, Rei of the wind, Spade of the fire, Blair of spirits and Zhehn of hearts. They lived a pretty much boring life so…" 

"Wait! That's only 6. You said they were 7." Eli cleared out after carefully counting each of them. 

Kamatayan looked at something behind her sleeves & explained, "Well, the 7th sibling was never known. Some said he was banished for trying to kill all of them, others claimed that he just existed within each of the 6…but nobody really knew. Ok, back to the topic. They lived a boring life so they decided to create something that would allow them to make wonders from their own powers. Each combined their elements. With earth, water, wind, fire, they were able to create the world. With spirit and heart, they created life forms that were very similar to their own except of the lack of their capabilities." 

This is truly pathetic. Eli closed her eyes & leaned back, "Are you telling me that this rubbish is true? Is this how the universe was created?" 

Kamatayan looked at her suspiciously, "You have something to say?" 

Eli gave her an annoyed look, "This is way beyond me. I have a religion. You know what a religion is?" 

"Of course," Kamatayan smiled. Eli looked at her doubtful if she even knew what she was talking about. Kamatayan sighed, "Faith is true. But then, you have to understand something. This is about your destiny. This is not about what you believe in, this is something more than that." 

"Like what?" Eli asked sarcastically. 

"Like your life, freak. Now listen up," Kamatayan continued ignoring Eli, "The siblings ruled the world & the people on it together, except for Blair who surprisingly declined the offer. Thene, the most sincere & loyal, ruled the nature & the animals. He attained the title 'God of Nature'. Sarah, the picky, over- confident one, dealt with the people's challenges in life, in short she's like the obstacle course. Therefore, she was named as the "Goddess of Destruction & War". Rei, the most forgiving and gentle of them, handled the peoples dreams & ambition. She's also the one who answers the people's request and questions. She was called as the "Goddess of Hope". Spade, who was the most obnoxious of them all, decided to make the people's destiny. Thus, people referred to him as the 'God of Wisdom'. Lastly, Zhehn, the eldest, controlled people's emotions. He was the most loved of all. He was honored as the 'God of Love'. Of course, Zhehn hated the title but he can't do anything anyway." 

Eli shook her head & complained, "Where do I fit in?" 

Kamatayan sighed, "Well, these gods were very powerful, that they had to suffer being weakened at times by their selves. So, they created yet another being that was closer to them. They were given special abilities but human form. They had special privileges like gods have but they were to remain as mortals. They were called 'VAHS'. They were tasked to protect the gods in case something happens. Everybody feared them because they were rumored to be more powerful than the gods. One saying says that their eyes explained who they were. Their eyes were indeed the most distinct feature. Unlike others, they had icy violet eyes, a shade that usually symbolizes mystery. That's where you fit in, Eli. You just happened to be a VAH." 

"No way."

***

Goku yawned & laid back, his head tilting his head to take a good look of the moon. Strange, but he never realized how beautiful the moon looked. He stared at it & in no time, fatigue engulfed his body. He yawned again this time closing his eyes slowly.

Gojyo looked at the kid beside him & twitched his face. Just look at that monkey. How utterly pathetic. Then a mischievous grin emerged.

"Oy Goku!" Gojyo nudged the kid's head, "have you noticed anything?"

Goku whined as he slowly sat up, "You're horny?"

"Yeah...but not that. Have you noticed anything between Hakkai & Sanzo?"

Goku looked at the monk & the smiley freak. He shook his head & guessed, "They're asleep?" Gojyo slapped his forehead & sighed. 

"Damn it, monkey. What I'm trying to say is, I don't think they would tell us their little secret."

"So?..."

"We have to steal he truth from them, Einstein!"

Goku scratched his head, "Yeah, but how?"

Gojyo reached into his pocket & produced a wooden pendant. "By this."

"What's that?" Goku asked backing away from Gojyo. One thing he learned is to never touch anything from Gojyo's things. Never. One time, while he was rummaging through the Water Monster's stuffs searching for something edible, he came across some nasty wet socks. It smelled weird & tasted icky.

Gojyo rolled his eyes, "Don't you know anything? This is called a pendant & it's part of a trick called hypnotism."

"Hyp -the what?"

"Hypnotism, ass," Gojyo lowered his voice, "We can control minds while the freaks are sleeping. Yup, & with just this thing."

Goku watched Gojyo suspiciously. "You're sick. I'm sleeping." He turned away & dismissed Gojyo's idea. And he thought the guy had brains.

***

"No way." Eli gulped hard. Get a grip of yourself Eli, the girl must be some kind of a magician, maybe she's one of those circus guys she saw the last day. Yeah, maybe that's it. But then... Eli looked at Kamatayan seriously. But this kamatayan had sincere eyes. Either that or she was really a good actress.

"How am I supposed to know that you're not making things up?" 

Kamatayan sighed in frustration & said, "I may look like a fool to you, but one thing is for sure. You're a fool if you start to deny yourself." She neared Eli slowly, "Face it kid, you know this is something else. You're just to mule-headed to admit it."

Eli stepped backwards, "But..."

"I'm still going to force you."

"You have no right."

With that, Kamatayan laughed sarcastically, "Are you kidding me? I have every right to make you do that. And I think you know that, too."

Eli tried to answer back but just as she was about to open her mouth, Kamatayan unexpectedly grabbed her hands & after that, a bright violet light surrounded them. "If you still won't believe, see this."

***

Sanzo woke up & cursed as he saw Goku 's feet beside his head. Pheeyoooey! The kids a living stink bomb. His athlete's foot is too much to take. It's like smelling hell itself. He punched the foot forcefully & mumbled incoherent words. Then it started drizzling.

***

"This is my world, Eli. This is the world you do not believe in."

Eli gulped.

Kamatayan had somehow transported her to some alternate place similar to that of ancient china. But that wasn't the main picture. Everywhere, people suffered. Strange, monster-like creatures burned houses & killed helpless children. The cries of the women was deafening & Eli, who suddenly felt confused, wanted so much to go back. The atmosphere in this world had too much suffering. 

A boy walked passed by Eli. His eyes reflected pure pain. As he looked at her, fear started to show. Eli softly assured, "I...I won't hurt you. Come." But the boy couldn't hear her. He started to tremble backing up slowly. Then out of nowhere, a monster jumped towards the kid & tore him from limb to limb. Eli turned her head away. She felt like throwing up.

"Those are demons who lost their mind."

Eli turned to Kamatayan & begged, "Enough. Bring me back."

***

"Sanzo, I think it's soon." Hakkai informed looking up the gray sky. Sanzo shrugged & lighted his cigarette, "I know that."

"Should we tell them."

"Not yet."

***

"Can I save them?"

Kamatayan nodded.

"How?"

"By fulfilling your destiny of course."

Eli breathed deeply, "Which is?"

Kamatayan grinned. Finally. She knew how hard-headed this girl was but she also knew how susceptible she was. "You'll be going on a Journey. You're true purpose is to find the Key of Zhehn. Don't ask. The guide will tell you everything. You will have to work together with his group." She handed Eli a bag, "Here. I prepared this for you. This is your handy bag. It has stuffs inside it that you will eventually need. You have a deadline but the date isn't certain yet. You will have to wait. But I'm betting it would take you about 5 months to complete this."

"5 months?!"

"Ok, maybe 4 months or so. BUT! I'm not sure ok?"

Eli scratched her head & asked, "When will I start?"

Kamatayan looked at the watch, "Is now too soon?"

"Now?!"

"Look, we're behind the schedule. I'd be watching you. But for now, I'm not yet allowed to tell you anything about, well, everything. But remember, there is a guide. He will find you so don't you worry."

Eli wore the bag & asked, "I don't know why I'm doing this but what about my family?"

"They'll be ok. And promise, they won't know."

"Can I leave a message for them?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Eli sighed & nodded slowly. Things was running so fast. But then, she had to do this. Even just for that slain boy. "Ok, I'm ready."

"Here, wear this necklace, " Kamatayan handed the thing, "The guide will recognize you with only this. Only this." Eli nodded & put it on immediately. "So I think it's time now."

Kamatayan raised her hand & chanted in another language. And again, a bright violet light surrounded them. A second later, a black hole appeared before them. "this is where I live you, Eli." Eli nodded. "Be strong."

Eli closed her eyes & walked towards the black hole but just as she was to be sucked in, a thought passed her mind. Damn. "Hey! The name of the guide! What's his name?!" By this time the hole had already shrunk & Kamatayan was no longer visible but she heard a faint answer.

"genjo..."

Eli then felt nauseous. And in no time, she was engulfed in darkness. Genjo.

***

"Come on, tell us! It won't hurt. Beside, we'll know it eventually anyway, might as well do it now." Gojyo begged rolling his eyes. Goku nodded in consent.

Sanzo turned his head away & informed, "It'll just show itself."

"soon." Hakkai added grinning. Sanzo looked at him. Hakkai scratched his head, "Gomen."

Gojyo & Goku looked at each other, "eh?"


	3. Eli meets Genjo?

Author's Notes: Thanks sleg for reviewing. Even though, you're the only one who does... And to those guys who read & don't review (if there is) thanks a thousand times!

Disclaimer: Saiyuki is created by some Japanese Guy/Gal, i don't know...And I ain't japanese. Never was & never will be.

eleezyienne: Hey sleg, I wonder where would I put you in? 

made-up sleg: ......

eleezyienne: er, right. Oh well, here's the 3rd chapter!

Chapter 3: Genjo 

Genjo.

Eli woke up with a start. She held her hands to her chest until her breath evened. Where was she again? Oh right, she doesn't know. She looked around the room & observed everything. She was in a small but nice looking room. There was an end table beside her & the closet was located at the other side of the room. 

She tried to stand up but the pain she felt was excruciating. Frustrated, she laid still & decided to think for a while instead. How did she arrived in here? What happened to Kamatayan? Just as she was about to ask some more of her unanswerable questions, she heard a knock.

"May I?" A man's voice. Eli gulped & blurted, "You may... I mean, yeah."

The door opened & a blue-eyed guy appeared. He smiled at her & she smiled back. "I brought you something to eat." Eli sat up & thanked him. He put the food on the table & looked at Eli cheerfully. "I'm glad you're awake."

Eli smiled, "gee- I, wait, where did you find me?"

The guy opened the curtains & answered, "My brother found you in the forest unconscious. We thought you were attacked by youkais but..."

"Youkais?"

"Demons. But then, you weren't bruised or anything."

Eli sipped the tea slowly, "Your brother. Where is he?"

He grinned & pointed behind the door, "He's probably there. Listening."

She tilted her head to take a better look & sure enough, there was a small kid w/ blue eyes & shining black hair peeping behind it. Eli smiled at him sweetly & reached out her hands, "Come, I want to thank you."

The boy slowly emerged from the door & walked towards his brother. Eli just smiled.

"So what's your name?" the guy started. 

"It's Eleezyienne, but you can call me Eli."

"Eli... I like your name." The guy commented, "Oh by the way, my name is Kazuka. But I'm called Kazu."

Then the boy tugged at Kazu's sleeves. Kaze smiled & introduced, "Oh, Eli this is my brother, Genjo."

Genjo?

*** 

"Sanzo!!! I'm hungry... We haven't eaten a single proper meal for 1 day! We'll starve to death! I don't want to die so miserably...Sanzo!" Goku was a whining machine. It's amazing how irritating his voice is. The very sound of him is enough to make an adult's head burst into flames! Goku looked at Sanzo desparately, "Oy Sanzo!" 

"Uraseii!" Sanzo whacked the hell out of Goku with his trusty fan, THE fan. And that's the only thing that could shut him up. 

Gojyo chuckled & turned to Hakkai, "Hakkai, where are we going now? I have to ask since we don't know much about this PLAN of yours." Hakkai smiled (what did you expect?), "Maa... Gojyo. Don't have some hard feelings, you'll know it eventually." 

Gojyo smirked, "Yeah...BUT WHEN?!" 

Sanzo whacked Gojyo hard, "Damn it, I said soon!!! Which word didn't you God-damn understand?" Gojyo & Goku gulped hard. 

Eventually, Sanzo settled down & the usual atmosphere was back. Goku asked, "Hakkai, where are we going?" 

Hakkai, unconsciously smiling again, replied, "To the town of Sakura (Obviously made-up). I think we need to spend some time there. Our supplies are close to nothing & we really need to refill it more." He glimpsed to the sun & continued, "But I think it'll be really hard for us to get some spare rooms." 

"Why's that?" 

"Well, It's the time of the year when all the Sakura are fully blooming. I think they're holding some kind of a festival there." 

Gojyo butted in, "Ooh... that would mean endless supplies of women, babes, & the likes! I'm going to enjoy this stay." Hakkai shook his head. Goku moved away from Gojyo a little bit. It's very dangerous to sit beside a very horny man. 

Sanzo sighed, "baka." 

*** 

Eli looked at Genjo picked some cherry blossoms. Was this her guide? The one who would lead her to her destiny of saving the world? He noticed how the boy reached w/ all his might but in vain. How, er,young. 

"Here you go." Eli picked the cherry blossoms & gave it to Genjo. "You must like them very much." The boy looked at her & nodded. He smiled at her & added, "It's the festival of the Cherry Blossoms. The festival ends this midnight with a Town Ball." 

Eli smiled, "Town Ball? That sounds nice." They both sat down under the cherry tree, "So who's your partner for the dance?" It was noticeable that the boy was surprised, "P-Partner?" Eli nodded, "Well yeah. You know, like a date." Genjo looked away & bowed low. "Ano...I don't have any?" 

"No partner? That's surprising. With such a handsome face like that, I bet it'll just take you 5 seconds to turn a girl's world upside down." 

Genjo smiled sadly, "Nobody would want to dance with me. I'm very sickly. Beside, I'll just hurt girls with my stinky dance." 

Eli patted him & assured, "Don't worry. I would love to dance with you." 

Genjo was taken aback. The beautiful lady would dance with him? "Ano...are you sure of that?" 

"I would be glad to do so, Genjo." Eli squeezed his hand reassuringly. With that, he gave the freshly picked Cherry Blossoms to her & said shyly, "Eli-san, please accept this flowers. Thank you for being my partner." Eli looked at him & took the flowers. She hugged & thanked him. 

Behind a tree, a man grinned menacingly, "Just the way as I planned, Eli." 

*** 

"Tell me again why I have to be your shopping partner." Sanzo sighed as he lighted a cigarette. He hated to walk. He hated it more to walk beside Gojyo, of all people. He can't exactly describe what he felt about the guy, disgust perhaps? It's not really because he's so horny all the time...OK, maybe it was because the guy IS horny all the time, too horny sometimes. But really, being with Gojyo, is kind of awkward. 

Gojyo grinned, "Hakkai wanted to settle some things with the inn keeper remember?" 

Sanzo sighed annoyed, "Oh yeah, well, you better hurry up 'cause I don't want to wait that long." 

"You're going to leave ME, JUST me, to do all the shopping?" Gojyo asked surprisingly. Then he smiled, "Great!" 

"Er, I changed my mind. I'll go with you." He forgot one of the basic rules of survival, NEVER LEAVE A HORNY GUY TO DO THE SHOPPING. What you'll probably get are liters of beers, some food & a whole lot of boxes filled with good 'ol condoms. Not to mention occasional b***h visits. Very dangerous. 

Gojyo snapped his fingers really frustrated, "kuso..." 

*** 

Kazu looked at his day planner & motioned to Genjo, "Genjo, we're out of bread. Could you get something down the street?" He turned to Eli, "Eli-san, you could accompany him if you want. That way, you could have a short tour of the city. What do you say?" 

Eli offered a thumbs-up, "Sure thing, Kazu!" She looked at Genjo, "So, shall we go?" 

Genjo nodded & they went away. 

"Genjo, do you have any idea how this festival originated?" Eli started as they walked passed by the stalls & beautiful displays of colored cherry blossoms. 

Genjo pointed to a hill not far away, "You see that great big Cherry tree? The great goddess of Love & Hope was rumored to have planted that. It was said that the cherry tree held some sort of a mysterious power. It was believed to be the source of love in this city. That's why this city is called Sakura. Recently, youkais started to loot other nearby cities & towns but they never tried to attack this city. Now, we believe that the great big Cherry Tree protects us." Eli nodded thoughtfully. She tried to remember who that goddess of love and beauty was. She's sure the name started w/ an 'R' but she couldn't quite get it. After a lot of thinking, she sighed & dismissed the subject. She was pulled away from her own thoughts when she heard Genjo asking. 

"So Eli-san, where are you from?" 

Eli shook her head briefly, "Huh? me? I'm from a place called Bacolod." 

Genjo scratched his head, "You must really come from far away. I've never heard that plaec before." 

"Of course." Eli answered softly. Genjo proceeded, "Ano...when I found you in the forest, you were unconscious. If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" She immediately looked in his eyes. She asked silently, "_Weren't you supposed to know?_" Then she figured out that he must be trying to make it sure that she was the right one. Yeah, maybe some kind of a 'spy-thing'. However, when she looked in his eyes, she wondered why they looked so sincere. Must be one of his 'spy-things' too. 

"Here we are Eli-san. Jumabe's Store of Everything!" Genjo announced as he excitedly pulled Eli to the entrance. Eli giggled. This world was not THAT different. It has stores w/ icky names too. 

*** 

"Jumabe's Store Of Everything?" Gojyo read the big red sign on top of a medium sized store, "That sucks ." 

Finally, after walking in what seemed to be forever, Sanzo & Gojyo arrived at a shop. Although it looked more like a minimized Disney Land, people assured them that this place was actually a shop. Sanzo added sarcastically, "Ooh looky looky, I'm Jumabe & guess what? I got everything." 

Gojyo just snickered a bit. he wasn't sure if he's supposed to laugh. I mean, come on, the guy maybe corrupt but he's still a monk. And everybody knows that monks make the most lamest joke ever. Well yeah, there were some jokes that were actually worth laughing for but he observed that those were mostly about the monkey, a.k.a. Son Goku, & his amazingly pea-sized brain. 

Just when Sanzo turned left to get a basket, he suddenly felt someone bumping him really hard. Reacting the way he usually does, he pointed the gun to the guy only to find that it was a kid. He then said coldly, "Watch it kid. You don't want to mess with me." He could see the kid gulp really hard. Good for him. 

Eli couldn't believe her eyes. Was that guy pointing a gun at Genjo? She dashed to the kid's side & cried, "Genjo!" 

Instantly, Sanzo looked at the source of the voice. He saw a dark-haired woman reach for the kid. She had just called his name. 

"Genjo! Are you all right?" Eli asked the shaken boy worriedly. He faced a gun so close, of course, he must be dead scared. If she was at his place, she was sure she could have fainted. How could somebody do that to a child? He looked directly at the guy & shouted, "How could you?!" 

Violet Eyes. That was the first thing Sanzo noticed. Oh yeah, ANGRY violet eyes. He eyed her & said coldly, "He bumped me." She looked at him in disbelief. She blurted, "So? Does that give you the right to point at him with - with you're gun?" 

By now, they already have attracted a good number of curious shoppers. But that didn't stop Eli from blowing up, "He's a child for God's sake!" 

Sanzo looked around & looked at her coldly. Fortunately, Gojyo arrived thus stopping Sanzo from saying a conniving word or two. Gojyo cleared his throat aloud & informed Sanzo, "Uh, we're here to shop." Sanzo shrugged. 

Genjo blushed & pulled Eli's long sleeves, "Eli-san, I think you should forget about that." 

Eli shook her head stubbornly & explained, "Not until he apologizes to you, Genjo." 

And that caught the two guys. Eli could see they were surprised...or something like that. Sanzo looked at the boy. 

Gojyo scratched his head, & looked at the kid amusingly, "Eh?" 

*** 

eleezyienne: *sighs* Finally, this chapter took a while. Oh well. Hope you'll like it. Oh, and to those guys who reviewed, Arigato, Sye sye ni, salamat, and thanks! (^^,) 


	4. The First Attack

*Disclaimer: Who said Saiyuki belonged to me? ME! 

*Author's Notes: To those guys who reviewed (Dragon, sleg, winkeyeyes, Vampire no Hime, & Flamehead), thanks a lot. I want to apologize for those icky typos & wrong grammars. Anyway, just bear w/ me! 

eleezyienne: *sighs* I don't know how to continue this story. Can you give me some ideas sleg? 

made-up slegna: ... 

eleezyienne: er, thanks? 

~o~ 

CHAPTER 4: The First Attack 

She's the one. He had no doubts about it. She's truly the one. He knew it at the moment when he first saw her. The most distinct feature of a VAH: Violet eyes. How mysterious were those eyes. The very sight of it made him shiver for a brief moment. Her face was unmistakably the face of a warrior sworn to protect & lost in the world. He never thought he would pity anyone like that. It's going to be a tough destiny to fulfill. 

"Oy Sanzo, you haven't touched your food for about an hour now." Goku informed staring at Sanzo's food. 

Sanzo closed his eyes & raised his right eyebrow, "You want the food?" 

Goku drooled. Sanzo looked at him disgustingly & pushed his food away, "Take it." Of course, Goku happily gulped it in no time. 

Gojyo eyed him & cried, "Baka! Do you know what sharing means?!" Goku burped. Gojyo shook his head in anger, "I thought so..." He suddenly wore his evil grin & started to push Goku's stomach in an attempt to get the food back. 

"Stop it...You horny *cough* water monster *choke* Even if you get it back, it would be nasty & all *cough*" 

Gojyo laughed, "Revenge you monkey! Revenge is sweeter!" 

Hakkai sighed (while smiling, of course), "Yare, yare... I think you better stop that. Sanzo's getting pissed off...really fast." The two stopped & sure enough Sanzo was aiming the gun to them. Slowly, Gojyo removed his hands away from Goku & made a quick exit. Goku smiled pathetically & stepped aside. Sanzo mutterd, "Better." 

Hakkai looked at Sanzo. He was worried about Sanzo's sudden weird behavior. Does it mean something? Hakkai cleared his throat & turned to Goku, "Nee~Goku, Gojyo, I heard there's a big dance on top of the hill. Why don't you guys go & check it out?" 

Gojyo & Goku looked at each other & eyed Hakkai suspiciously. Gojyo smiled, "Ok, we'll check it out. I bet there're lots of gorgeous girls waiting for me there." Goku looked at him confusingly, "But what does that have to do w/ me?" In reply, Gojyo dragged him out of the inn. 

Hakkai smiled as he watch Goku struggle from Gojyo's inhuman grip & disappear. He shook his head slowly & cleared his throat, "Sanzo--" 

"I saw her." Sanzo cut him off, "Violet eyes. I saw her." 

"Eleezyienne?" (---it's really kind of weird to type your own name) 

Sanzo nodded & lighted his cigarette. 

*** 

"Genjo, I think we should better be going now. We're going to be late for the dance." Eli chirped happily as she did a freaky dance step. Genjo smiled awkwardly & scratched the back of his neck, "Uh Eli-san, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I could really damage your toes big time. And we'll be a laughing stock out---" 

"Aw come on, Genjo. We already talked about this. Beside, We've rehearsed for about a million times," Eli rolled her eyes patting Genjo. 

Genjo shrugged, "But, I look like a child when I'm with you!" 

Kazu laughed, "You ARE a child Genjo-chan!" 

Genjo sighed. Eli smiled & assured him, "Nonsense! I'm a child, too you know. Come on Genjo." 

Genjo looked away, "I don't know..." 

"For me?" Eli grinned. 

"Oh ok, but don't blame me if your feet gets all swollen & violet ok?" 

Eli nodded. "I'm sure it won't." 

*** 

"Gojyo, I wonder what they're talking about." Goku sighed putting his hand on top of his head. Personally, he didn't really want to go to that dang dance but then Hakkai insisted & Gojyo literally dragged him. he had no choice! 

Gojyo answered, "Of course, they must be yapping about their 'little' secret right now." He added, "Didn't you see how Hakkai looked?" 

"He was smiling, Gojyo." 

"Well yeah A-hole, but his voiced sounded urgent. It's like he was saying 'Shoo! Go away! Beat it human weeds!'" 

Goku chuckled a bit, "I think you're exaggerating." 

Gojyo imitated him in a honey-coated voice, "I think you're exaggerating. Blah di blah di BLAH! That's what's wrong with you, kid. You don't get in between messages." 

"In between messages?" 

Gojyo rolled his eyes, "Yeah like..." He pointed to a girl smiling to his partner, "You see that unavailable chick over there? She's probably telling her boyfriend how pretty her dress looks but if you ask me, I bet her eyes are saying 'go & f**k me you bastard!'." Goku laughed. 

They settled under a smaller Cherry Tree. Gojyo continued, "In between messages are really tricky." Goku nodded. Then he sighed, "Oy Gojyo, do you think Sanzo & Hakkai will tell us the secret?" 

Gojyo looked at him, "I bet they will. And I bet it'll be soon." 

*** 

Eli took Genjo's hands & whispered, "So, are you ready?" 

Genjo looked like he was about to puke hell itself. He looked pale & his legs were trembling uncontrollably. "Eli-san..." 

Eli pulled him & went to the dance floor, "Come on, Genjo. Let's dance." 

He knew it was mushy, icky & downright corny but when he stepped inside the dancefloor & placed his hands around Eli's waist, he felt everything was in slow motion. It was a rather fast-paced music & the beat was altogether catchy but he felt that he was flying & gliding gracefully on the dance floor. Was Eli carrying him? Nah, she may be taller but she's not THAT strong. He smiled & let Eli turn. Maybe this was the work of the great goddess of Love & Hope, Rei. 

*** 

"Let's go. I think It's time for Gojyo & Goku to know this thing." 

Hakkai nodded & followed Sanzo. "They'd be really surprised..." 

Sanzo looked at him sarcastically. 

Hakkai added, "& probably confused." Sanzo nodded. 

*** 

"You were great, Genjo," Eli whispered as they sat under the Big Cherry Tree. "Look at those girls winking at you." Genjo smiled shyly. Eli assured him, "You were really great." Genjo looked at Eli & thanked, "Arigato Eli-san." Eli patted him. 

Eli & Genjo talked. Suddenly, a red-headed man approached them. He held Eli's hand & introduced himself, "Good evening, fair lady. May I take you to dance?" He grinned, "I'm sure your partner won't mind if I borrow his girl for just a moment." 

Genjo blushed like hell. 

Eli was irritated w/ his grin. He looked like a playboy if you would ask her. Yup, a good for nothing pervert. However, this night was for fun. beside, the man looked like he would die for a dance. She smiled & nodded, "Sure." 

"You're very beautiful, you know that?" Gojyo whispered to his first prey. How long have he danced with a beautiful girl since then? He's careful to follow his official steps of flattering a girl. Ok, admire, talk w/ a flowery tongue, show some flesh & voila! You got yourself a girl for the night. He saw a smile & rejoiced to himself. Yup, all girls were suckers. Not that he didn't like them but face it, a couple of sweet talks can make them go all crazy for 'ya. That's why he loved this hobby. You'll have a challenge & at the same time get pleasure. Uh-huh, this is HIS way alright. 

Eli didn't like him one bit. She gave him one of her faked smile as he whispered something to her. She didn't understand what he had said but judging by the way he smiled, she probably got his message. She cleared her throat & said, "Thank you." 

He got her. He just knew it. "So, you're violet eyes are gorgeous." 

Eli stopped. Violet eyes? Gorgeous? She shoved his hands away from her waist & looked at him sharply. 

Gojyo gulped. Damn. Did he say anything wrong? Oh no, don't let it be a loose one. 

She had enough. That was the worst insult she had ever heard. What a fool that guy was? Using lies just to get a girl...& about her cursed eyes, too! She gave him a disgusting look & turned away. Guys are jerks! 

Gojyo sighed. Goku chuckled & gave Gojyo a pat, "Love hurts! Love sucks! Love, well, you know..." Gojyo snickered & pushed the kid away, "Didn't score. But hey, there're lots of gals waiting for moi..." He grinned & fixed himself. Goku sighed (-_-*), "Horny again?" 

Gojyo smirked. Then he pondered at last. Was it because of her violet eyes? 

*** 

Sanzo clutched Hakkai's arm tightly as he held his stomach. Danger. He can sense it. Danger to that VAH. Hakkai looked at him worriedly, "Oh no. Have they arrived?" 

Sanzo coughed & nodded. 

*** 

"Eli-san, what happened?" 

Eli shook her head, "Just met some jerk. Nothing more." 

Genjo looked at her curiosly, "You didn't like that red-head guy?" 

Eli giggled. How innocent those eyes looked. She put her arms around his shoulders & sighed, "Well, let's just say, you're better." She smiled as Genjo blushed furiously. Suddenly, a pain strike her. Her head suddenly ached so much making her twitch in pain. 

Genjo looked at her worriedly, "Eli-san?" 

But Eli could hear nothing but an eerie voice speaking to her. _"VAH, you're a hindrance to this world. You weren't meant to exist anywhere... You're destiny leads everything to destruction..."_ Eli felt a cold wind pass her head & the next thing she knew, something was suffocating her. She kneeled & held the grasses tightly. _"You're destiny will destroy everything you believed in..."_

*** 

Sanzo & Hakkai ran towards Gojyo & Goku. As soon as they were next to them, Sanzo demanded sharply, "The violet eyed! Where is she?" Goku looked at him & Hakkai, "What's the matter?" 

Sanzo seized Goku, "Where's the violet eyed?" Hakkai touched his hands & asked Goku, who was obviously shocked, calmly but urgently, "Have you seen any violet-eyed girl in here?" 

Gojyo replied, "She's with the boy we met earlier." 

Sanzo turned to Gojyo & demanded, "Where's the kid." 

Gojyo gulped hard looking at Sanzo confusingly. What happened to this corrupt monk? It wasn't like him to scream & go all panicky. SOMETHING must be really up. 

Just when Gojyo was about to answer, someone came running to the dance floor. It was the kid that hit Sanzo a while ago. Amid the bewildered gazes of the crowed, the apparently terror-stricken boy took a deep breath & shouted in a plea, "Somebody! Help!" 

With that, Sanzo dashed towards the boy. 

*** 

Eli coughed as she finally breathed. But she knew there was something more. Life has taught her that suffering can't end in snap. And sure enough, another came. This time, Eli felt an agonizing pain that felt like every inch of her body was covered in bruise. She stared at her hands & saw how blue they were. She coughed again & this time blood gushed out from her mouth. 

What was happening to her? 

_"You're destiny is the death of all..."_

She could smell death coming near. 

*** 

"Damn it, Hakkai! What the hell is happening?" Gojyo demanded as they followed Sanzo & the boy. What's with the violet-eyed girl? Goku added, "We have to know!" 

Hakkai answered w/o so much as glancing at them, "Destiny, Gojyo, Goku." 

Gojyo & Goku looked at each other, "Eh?' 

*** 

eleezyienne: there. Ouch. My hands hurt w/ all of that typing. Hope you enjoyed this. Until next time! 


	5. Turning Point

Author's notes: I can't believe I still continued this. Like, who reads these stuff anyway? Well, to those who reviewed (Lady Harlequin, slegna, flamehead, winkyeyes, Vampire, jjamsz), thanks a lot! And lady harlequin? thanks for that 'constructive criticism'. I'll try my best to remember those stuff you told me. and to the others, feel free to give me some helpful advice, I think I REALLY need them. Finally, to those guys who read & don't review, thanks a lot! At least you're reading. That's all! 

eleezyienne: New friend! 

Death: shut up & type! 

eleezyienne: ?...ok... 

CHAPTER 5: Turning Point 

Elee shook her head miserably as she battled against the voice inside her brain. _"Your destiny is the death of all"._ What the hell does that mean? It sounds like some quote from a demonic book or something. But the pain's still there. She cried for help but nobody came. A tear fell & then everything went dark. 

*** 

Sanzo gulped hard as he saw Eli float in the air. He looked at Hakkai and saw the dread in his eyes. Hakkai noticed him and asked in a low voice, "An attack." Sanzo shook his head. He knew they would eventually make a move, but he didn't expect it to be that soon. "Hakkai, you know what to do?" 

Hakkai grinned, "Of course." 

Suddenly, an irritated voice rose up, "Damn it! Can somebody f****** tell me what's happening here!." Goku backed him up with his 'If-you-won't-tell-me-then-I'll-go-ape-and-you-won't-like-it-one-bit' look. Hakkai sighed and faced them, "Could this wait?" 

Gojyo looked at him seriously, "We ain't here for nothing, you know." 

Sanzo bursted, "And we ain't here for nothing, too." He signaled something to Hakkai and the latter raised his hands. "We can't let you see this, not yet." 

And then, there was a blinding light. 

*** 

Eli felt so cold. Everything's so dark. It's so scary. And just like an answer to her prayers, a dim light appeared out of nowhere. She looked at it and tried to reach it with her hands. So warm. And so she walked towards it. She didn't care if it was a trap or whatever. All she knows is that she's really cold right now. Really cold. 

She walked for a couple of minutes and just as she was about to give up, the light grew so big that in no time, it surrounded her. The next thing she knew, she was in a meadow, seated on a bench. She noticed that the place was covered in flowers and everywhere, butterflies flew freely. 

Then a familiar voice, "Here already?" 

*** 

"Help!" 

Sanzo turned only to see the kid gasping for help. Eli was holding his throat and gripping it really hard. Blood started to gush out from his neck. 

"No!" Hakkai shouted seeing the kid suffering. He called Sanzo and stopped as he saw him look at Eli. 

This isn't her. Sanzo could feel something really wrong. He looked at Eli's eyes and grinned. Gray eyes huh? he pointed his gun at Eli and demanded, "Let go of the kid you freakish creature of nature." Hakkai smiled and turned to Eli, "Or you'll get it." 

An inhuman laugh. Eli looked at them sharply and threw Genjo's limped body away. She wore a scary smile that looked like she was about to throw up and laugh at the same time. "And who are you to tell me what to do?" 

Sanzo fired the gun aiming just inches away from her head. "Oh, just some folks trying to stop you." Hakkai added, "Such a coward. Hurting a helpless boy like that when you should be trying to kick our asses." 

Eli grinned menacingly, "Die you infidels!" She attacked them and so they fought. 

*** 

"Kamatayan." 

Kamatayan smiled still not looking at her, "So glad you remembered me. What are you doing here?" 

Eli looked down, "I don't know." 

"Shouldn't you be staying somewhere else? I remembered we had a deal of some sort." 

Eli answered picking up a blade of grass, "I don't know what happened, I just felt an excruciating pain and poof! I'm here." 

Kamatayan giggled, "And you still manage to joke about it." 

"Who said I was joking?" 

Kamatayan sighed & informed, "Well, I think it's best for you to get your ass back there & save your Guide." 

Eli looked at her, alarmed, "My Guide?" 

Kamtayan yawned, "You didn't know? He's being attacked by a crazy lunatic right now." 

"Who?!" Damn it, she must save Genjo. 

Kamatayan laughed briefly, "I forgot how bothersome you are. He's called the puppeteer. Stupid nick if you ask me." 

Eli looked everywhere trying to find a way out. Somebody needs her right now, somebody actually needs her right now. She's not stupid, she knows she can't do much for Genjo but she's got to do something at least. If she would loose him, then her destiny wouldn't be fulfilled & she'll be stuck in that world forever! The thought struck her & made her shiver. 

"Go beyond that tree in the right." 

Eli nodded but before she went, she asked Kamatayan one more thing, "Is my guide supposed to be young? Ok, no offense but how the can a child help me?" 

Kamatayan finally looked at her, "How the hell am I supposed to know that?" She chuckled & shook her head, "And I don't think he considers himself a child, Eli. Now shoo!" 

Eli replied, "Yeah, I know that." and she disappeared. 

Kamatayan smiled. She's going to undergo some major hell...& only the guide can help her. 

*** 

Sanzo spit out blood & wiped his mouth with the back of his hands. He watched Hakkai being pummeled by a possessed teenage girl. If only he could laugh. He loaded his gun & aimed one more time. But then, he sensed something. 

Suddenly, 'Eli' twisted herself in pain. Her face showed that of pure terror. She backed off & began to slam her head on a cherry tree that looked like it was about to wilt. Hakkai looked at Sanzo & together they aimed towards the back of a tree. There was a brief shout. 

Sanzo rushed at Eli's side & held her trying to stop her violent actions. She began to push him & kick him & punch him but Sanzo held his ground. "Damn it, return now!" 

And Eli steadied. 

Hakkai neared them & asked, "Are you all right?" Sanzo nodded & let go of Eli. Eli shook her head & looked at them, "Who-who are you?" 

Just then a loud cry sounded. They turned to the source & saw Genjo being held by a nasty looking man. 

"Genjo!" Eli scrambled to her feet & came to a halt as she looked at the man who held Genjo. "Ka...Kazuka?" 

Kazuka grinned & produced a knife from somewhere. He placed it beside the kid's throat. "I guess I failed, Eleezyienne. But not to worry, I'll succeed in hurting you anyhow." He looked at Genjo & smiled. 

Genjo was crying, "Kazu...no." 

Kazuka laughed, "Too bad..." He smiled at him, "Sorry bro." 

And then he stabbed his own brother in the chest & let go of him. Genjo fell down & slammed on the ground. Kazuka grinned & eventually stabbed himself. 

Sanzo looked at the dying man disgustingly. Hakkai lowered his head. 

"NO!!!!" Eli rushed at Genjo's side & hurriedly covered his wound with a part of her dress she had ripped. Genjo smiled at her. 

Sanzo & Hakkai came to them. Hakkai placed his hands beside the wound & tried to close it. He knew the kid was a goner but at least... 

Eli held Genjo's hand tightly, "Don't die. Damn it, Don't die." Eli have never cried so hard before. Not in her lifetime. This can't be happening, how fast those crucial moments went. "Genjo, please." 

Genjo smiled at her. Eli knew it was his last smile. He spoke in great pain, "I-I have something to tell you..." 

She leaned closer to his head. And he kissed her in the cheek. 

*** 

eleezyienne: Well, I really wanted the kid to die anyway. That's how Mary Sues go right? Hehe! I'm off to write Chapter 6! 

*Please review. 


	6. Eli meets the SanzoIkkou

Author's Notes: Again, thanks to those who reviewed (Evita, Mei, Lady Harlequin, flamehead, zyienne, slegna, jjamsz). Thanks for the advices! I'm sure It'll really help me. But I AM trying. I can assure you that I'm working my butt off, ok? (^^,) One more thing...to those guys who can't understand the storyline, sorry, but I can't help you. You have to understand it for yourself. hehe. 

*Chapter 5 was made by my friend, Mitchka, who really really wanted Genjo (the kid) to die. 

Disclaimer: I don't own saiyuki. I'm just a fan like anybody else. Got it? Oh, and I'm sorry if Sanzo & the guys are little bit OOC. I haven't finished the series and manggas aren't available here. (And I hate it!) 

CHAPTER 6: Eli Meets The Sanzo-Ikkou 

Eli opened her eyes only to find herself in an unfamiliar room. It smelled disgustingly like booze and cigars. She coughed & cleared her throat. What happened anyway? The last thing she can remember is... She gulped. Yes, Genjo. Then, a thought struck her. She didn't do anything to stop Kazuka from... Tears slowly flowed down her cold, tired face. 

She tried to steady her breath but the wave of emotions was to much to bear. She covered her face and let herself be controlled by her feelings. She could see Genjo's smiling face as he slowly lifted his head to kiss her cheeks. She cried some more. And to think of he's the first guy who did that excluding his father of course. She shook her head slowly. And she thought she could make a difference... 

"It wasn't your fault." Somebody beside her said in a low and cold voice. 

"F***!" Eli jerked obviously surprised. She quickly moved closer to the wall and faced the man who said it positioning herself in defense. Immediately, her feelings shifted from that of sorrow to fear. She cursed as she saw 4 men facing her. 

There was a kid sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. His hands were placed above his head in a carefree manner but his golden eyes reflected that of worry. Wait, did she just saw Golden Eyes? And what's with that weird looking pussy-cat on his head? 

Beside him was a nice-looking guy with an eyeglass that looked a lot more like an eye patch. Half of his face was covered with his brunette hair. He was seated on a wooden chair with his legs crossed also. He wore a smile but she could tell in his green eyes that his expression defied what's inside him. 

Leaning on the door, she could see a red-head tossing his hair away from his face. Just like the golden-eyed kid, his hands rested on top of his head. No doubt he was staring at her in the corners of his eyes. Strangely, the guy had red eyes. Red. 

"It's not your fault the kid died." There was another guy. He stood right beside the large window but unlike the rest, he wasn't looking at her. He looked like he was in skirts and around his neck was a weird long paper that had some unidentified writings on it. He wore some kind of a wooden vest. And was smoking. 

She gulped as she looked at them one by one. How rogue these guys looked! She was sure they were fighters, their eyes said it all. And to her, they meant trouble. For short, she had to make a run for it. Or else, she'll really be in deep s**t. 

Then just as she was calculating her chances of survival, the blond who was still smoking his a*s off, said, "It wasn't your fault." 

Eli looked at him suspiciously. Was he referring to Genjo? "What wasn't my fault?" 

The green eyed guy lowered his head and sighed. "The kid died not because of you. But because of..." Eli looked at him sharply as she waited for him to continue. But he didn't, he just shook his head and smiled at her. His eyes reflected a great amount of pity she have never seen before. And how she hated somebody pitying her. 

There was a brief moment of silence before Eli finally got the courage to flee. She took a deep breath and ran as fast as she can tripping time and again. All she thought of was to knock off the red-head and just reach the door. The latter was simple enough but knocking off somebody that looked like a serious maniac would probably be a bit harder. 

Make that a LOT harder, close to impossible. She successfully managed to stagger her way down the bed and evade the kid's pull. But as she approached the red-head, she knew it needed all of her puny muscles to knock him off. And so, when they were about 5 inches away from each other, she closed her eyes and readied her fist. She mumbled an apology and KAPOWW!!! There was silence. 

How could her muscle tissues betray her now? As she opened her eyes, she saw the red-head grinning right beside the door. He didn't move at all! She looked at her hands and saw the blood clot that was slowly forming in her fists. First, she was surprised she didn't feel anything from that blow but after about a second, a stinging pain aroused. And it really hurt. "Awwww!!!!" Eli clutched her right arm and ran around the room. 

*** 

"Who are you?...Aw! Take it easy, will you?" Eli snatched her hand away from Hakkai. It was an hour after she had damaged herself trying to beat Gojyo. She knew it was a stupid plan anyway. Who said it was a good plan? It was the stupidest plan she had ever made. But who could blame her? 

Hakkai didn't seem to mind her protests since he kept on poking her hand with his 'thing'. It looked somewhat like a cotton bud. "Maa...Why won't you just take it easy and don't move too much?" Eli pouted. 

Eli shook her head embarrassed of the way she acted. She's positive she looked like a deranged freak running around the room skipping occasionally on one foot. But her hand really hurt! Nobody told her the red-head was a living iron man. Well, he seemed to be. 

Just then, Sanzo interrupted Eli's thoughts when he cleared his throat and said in his usual cold voice, "Eleezyienne." Eli looked at him suspiciously. He walked towards her with his head low. He stopped when they were just inches apart. Eli gulped. Sanzo looked at her directly in the eyes and said, "That's your name, VAH." 

Eli froze. Violet eyes. 

*** 

Hakkai smile was even wider than before. His eyes spoke that of excitement. However, Gojyo and Goku were more than confused. And they were never the most patient guys in town. Frustrated and really pissed off, Gojyo slightly slammed his fist and blurted, "Hakkai, Sanzo, you better tell us the truth now or else. You won't like it if the two of us will go ape or something really horrible I can't even explain it. 'Cause you know what? I'm really..." 

"Shut up," Sanzo blurted as he rolled his eyes. "You want to know? Shut up." 

Gojyo grinned. Goku patted Gojyo's back. 

Sanzo lighted his cigarette and sighed. How he hated lectures. He looked at Eli and sighed some more. Look at her, she looks like some...some ignorant weirdo. This is going to be a long day indeed. 

*** 

"I am so dead!" Eli started cutting off Sanzo's ending explanations about the different gods and goddesses. The whole time he was explaining, she couldn't take her eyes away from his. She'd never seen anyone with the same color as her eyes. It was strange but, she almost felt warm just by looking at him. 

Then, she remembered Genjo. She let him die right before her very eyes. And he was a child... just a child. Suddenly, it hit her. She was doomed. Genjo's dead. Her guide is dead. Kamatayan had told her that he's the only way for her to know her destiny, and her destiny is the only way for her to go back. She looked at Sanzo worriedly and said in a soft voice, "Genjo...Genjo is..." 

"Dead. And we can do nothing about it. People die." Sanzo replied finishing her sentence. He was seated right beside her. Both of them faced Hakkai, Goku, and Gojyo. He couldn't help but notice how she stared at him. Like some fragile bird waiting to be taken care of. He ignored her, but he did took some glances every other time. 

Eli shook her head as she forced the words to get out from her mouth. "You...you don't understand...I need him....He..." She never thought how hard it was to stop your tears and try to talk at the same time. It's like having a ball of emotions stuck in your throat and all you want to do is just let it go but stay tough at the same time. It was hard and she couldn't continue . 

Hakkai closed his eyes, "We're very sorry..." Gojyo looked away while Goku tried to cheer her up telling her that it was okay, while in fact it wasn't. 

Eli shook her head and looked at Sanzo pleadingly, "No...Genjo..." Sanzo looked at her. She tried to read his eyes but surprisingly, she couldn't. His eyes spoke nothing. And it was strange. Call it weird but Eli had this strange abilities to actually read people's emotions just by looking with their eyes. It's really kind of a 'hooly-booly' but it does the trick sometimes. The thing is, she never saw eyes without any emotions. 

"You don't understand! I need Genjo. He's my..." She looked at them, ready to be laughed at, "He's my Guide." 

"What the hell is a guide?" Gojyo smirked. So far, he's still confused. Don't get him wrong, he's not really slow. It's just that these stuff the corrupt monk was blabbing about was completely out of his head. He didn't know there were only 6 gods...Wait, Sanzo said a while ago that Zhehn was the god of love and Rei, the goddess of hope. If that's so, who was that pervert-looking old woman who calls herself Kanzeon? Goddess of Love and Hope the 2nd? See, how confusing? 

Eli sighed, "You see, I need Genjo to guide me. Kamatayan..." 

"Kama- who?" Goku cleared out. How come as they go further the names all get weird and longer? 

"Kamatayan. She told me that I should look for Genjo. He'll be somewhat like a guide to my destiny. Genjo found me instead but now, he's gone and I don't know what to do!" Eli explained as calmly as she can. 

Hakkai nodded, "We understand but Eli..." 

"Actually, we don't understand," Gojyo butted in sarcastically. 

Hakkai ignored him, "Eli-san. We're very sorry that Genjo died. But that's the reason why we're here. You see, Sanzo-" 

"Listen to me," Sanzo cut him, "You are a vah." He turned to Gojyo and Goku, "Vah's are protectors of the gods, very important persons, " He continued looking at Eli, "And your destiny is to find the Key of Zhehn." 

"Yeah, but why? I don't even know what's the Key of Zhehn!" Eli's head was starting to hurt. 

"It's the key that can open up the 6th prophecy. Don't ask. Now about Genjo, I'm only going to tell you this once, he is your guide. And he was tasked to look for you. But he failed and that's it." 

Eli turned her head away slowly. What now? This guy's right. She has to continue even if she doesn't know how, she just have to. Then she realized something she should have a while ago. "Who are you?" 

"Huh?" Gojyo scratched his head. 

"Who are you? How did you find me? Why do you know so much about this--this stuff?" Eli eyed them. 

They looked at each other. And sighed. 

After what seemed to be forever, the golden-eyed kid finally stood up and went to Eli's side. A huge smile was plastered on his face. Offering his hand for a shake, he introduced himself, "I'm Son Goku." 

Eli observed him as he gave her a purely innocent smile. Then she cast her eyes down and shook his hand slowly. The red-head grinned and informed, "The name's Sha Gojyo." Eli glanced at him and nodded. After him, the green-eyed slightly bowed and said, "I am Cho Hakkai." Not knowing what to do, she just smiled and nodded. Then she finally turned to the blond guy with the violet eyes. 

Sanzo lighted a cigarette and looked at him coldly, "Sanzo." 

Eli stared at him. Then she took a deep breath. She's having a strange feeling that these people were ex-convicts. They have to be, they looked so rough. "How'd you know all about these? Wait, How'd you know my name?" 

Sanzo's patience was coming to an end. One thing he hates is a bothersome girl asking questions non-stop. He heard her ask again. Another thing he hates is a bothersome girl asking the same questions all over again. 

"I'm a monk. I've been called by Kanzeon to journey to Togenkyo and stop Gyumao's revival." He continued not giving Eli any chances to ask some more, "Gyumao's a very dangerous guy. We have learned that in order to revive him, all the sutras should be gathered together." He pointed to his sutra and looked at her, "This is one of the sutras. But we have learned that in order for all the sutras to work and be harmonized, a some kind of a 'force-breaker' should be applied as well." He took a chair and seated himself, "That's exactly what the Key of Zhehn does. With the key, you could open up all the sutras and releases each of it's powers. We can't let that happen of course. That's where you come in." 

Eli gulped and raised her eyebrow. 

Sanzo continued, "Strangly, only a VAH can see the Key of Zhehn since it was rumored to be a very divine thing. Now you see where its going? However, there's some more problems. Just last week, we have found out that you're not the only Vah in here. There are two more, and one of them is working for Gyumao." He paused for a moment and went on, "With your ability, you can help us find the key. It'll be like hitting two birds with one stone. You get to fulfill your destiny and at the same time we can act as your guide and as for us, we can stop Gyumao. So what do you say?" 

She watched them trying to make her decision. Can she trust them? Then she finally figured out that there wasn't any choice at all. Dead or alive, she got to trust them. Pushing aside a great deal of hesitation and doubt, she cleared her throat and asked, "So, when do we start?" 

*** 

Eli watched as the four men went out of the room. After she had agreed, the tension that filled this room before was almost gone. She realized that they were kind of nice and funny. Of course she's not yet judging but so far, each of their eyes hid nothing fro her. Except, for Sanzo of course. He's keeping something from her, no doubt, but that's not what concerns her right now. How can he manage to hide his emotions? How come his eyes reflected nothing but coldness? 

She sighed and laid down. She'll know why later on. But for now, she'll just have to rest for awhile. It has been a long morning. The sun was up high and she could tell it was noontime, but she wasn't hungry yet. 

She closed her eyes and thought about her slain guide. No matter how she denies it, she will never forgive herself about that. Never. 

*** 

Sanzo lighted another cigarette and looked at each of them. He took a rather deep breath and announced, "From now on, I am to be called 'Kouryuu'. 'Kouryuu Sanzo'." Hakkai slowly shook his head smiling. 

Gojyo and Goku looked at each other then chuckled a bit, "Eh?" 

*** 

eleezyienne: Kouryuu Sanzo sounds so dorky, doesn't it? That's exactly the reason why I chose it! haha. Anyway, sorry for the typos and a lot of booboos. I'm only human. 

*I need more advice! 


	7. Talk

Author's Notes: To those who reviewed, thanks a lot! But I would like to ask for some more advice. To those guys who flamed, sorry but I can't let you have your way.^^ To Lady Harlequin, I'm comfortable using Ilonggo... and English is just hard for me. But I'm trying though. Thanks a million times! 

Disclaimer: Saiyuki isn't mine. Cuz if it was, then I wouldn't be writing any more fics, would I? 

CHAPTER 7: Talk 

Gojyo and Goku looked at each other. After a second they both broke down into fits of laughter. Kouryuu Sanzo? What a dorky name! It sounds like an underwear brand. No offense, but the name really sucks. 

CLICK. Gun on head. Gojyo stopped and cleared his throat. CLICK. Gun on Monkey's head. Goku stopped coughing. Sanzo gave them the 'shut-up-or-you'll-get-it' look and immediately they settled down. However, each wore a smile. Except for Sanzo of course. 

"Why the name change?" Hakkai asked looking at him amusingly. Sanzo wasn't the kind of guy who likes dramatic changes. Especially on names. 

Gojyo and Goku nodded in consent. Why DID he change his name? 

Sanzo shrugged obviously annoyed that they asked, "I don' want any trouble." And he was really hoping they would let him be. Who is he kidding anyway? Of course, they would ask. They ALWAYS ask! He continued, "The kid's very gullible. I don't want to mess with ignorance." 

Goku slumped, his face showing great aggravation. How he hated it when Sanzo speaks in riddles. Why can't he just talk simply like Gojyo does? Then it would be a whole lot easier to understand the situation. He sighed and asked, "Is there any chance for you to just tell us why?" 

No answer. 

So much for trying. Gojyo chuckled and slapped Goku's back jokingly, "Too bad, monkey. You got to have brains to understand stuff like these." Goku slumped some more. Maybe, he has to find it out for himself. But does that mean he ain't got enough brains? 

*** 

Hours later, they all went their own separate ways. Gojyo wanted to 'check out' some hot babes around the corner. According to him, noon is the best time to go and fish some fresh lively ones. Sanzo whispered that every hour was the best time for the water monster since his face always has 'HORNY' written on it. 

Hakkai said he wanted to visit someone he knew...which was, of course, a lie. Every one knew he just wanted to be alone and do his 'Hakkai things'. Strolling in the forest and thinking endless thoughts about his slain Kana is probably his favorite hobby. Wait, don't forget 'blaming himself' and 'convincing himself that life has to go on'. Hakkai's routine were always...well, depressing. 

As for Sanzo, he just wanted to go upstairs and take a long nap that usually ends right after sun set. After that, he'll probably eat, drink, play 'mahjong' and go right back to sleep. He warned everybody to never disturb his nap. Yeah right, as if they were stupid enough to do that. 

That leaves Goku to do everything, which was to watch over Eli. At first, this matter was a problem. Of course, nobody would want to watch some dangerous 'VAH' sleeping her ass off. Everybody agreed that Sanzo was the perfect one to do the job since he's the only one who really knows Eli, but then of course, their decision changed after they heard the infamous clicking of THE gun. So, they did what any humans (and demons) do during crisis... 'rock-paper-scissors'. 

Everybody knows that monkey always lose. Goku knew that, but there was no harm in trying... He forgot how trying can really suck. 

Sighing, he forced himself to enter Eli's room, which was supposed to be HIS and Gojyo's room, and walked towards the window wearily. He positioned himself beside it and with a yawn, closed his eyes. 

*** 

"You're Goku right?" 

Goku flung his eyes wide open. Did somebody call him? He shook his head slightly and looked directly in front of him. He saw Eli sitting up, her head lowered down. It didn't take him long to answer her, "Yes." He wasn't really afraid of her, maybe nobody was. It was just kind of uncomfortable to be talking to someone you never knew. Yes, it's true that he's probably the friendliest among them but that doesn't mean he ain't shy. Of course, he's shy. But for the past few years, he realized that being shy won't do a person any good. It just can make you a really quiet guy, and he doesn't want to be THAT! Hakkai's one of them, and he really looks sad. 

He saw her smile and replied, "It's surprising how I didn't forget all your names." He noticed that her smile was kind of sad...just like Hakkai's. He smiled in return and decided to talk to he for awhile, "Well, you'll never forget mine. It's really kind of short." 

She nodded and looked at him. Her face was slowly brightening up, "Goku. I like it too. Have you ever asked your mother why she named you that?" 

He shook his head and looked at her directly, "I never had a mother." He saw how she looked at him with pity and attempted to apologize but he cut her, "But it doesn't really matter. People can live without parents." Why do people pity him because of that? He didn't really need a mother. In fact, it must have been better if he didn't have any mother at all! 

She cleared her throat and faced him. She smiled and asked some more, "So, where did you get your name then?" 

He smiled. Then and there, he knew that he and Eli had something in common. He doesn't really know what it is but it's just there. Strangely, her eyes seems to tell him that. "Gen--I mean, Sanzo gave it to me." 

She looked at him, rather puzzled, "You mean, he named you?" 

He nodded. And he's thankful Sanzo did. Honestly, he liked the name very much. 

Scratching her head, she asked him softly, "Ano---Goku? Can I ask you something?" 

Uh-oh. She sounded like she's going to ask him some personal questions. Or something that's not supposed to be asked. Those things always happen. He forced a smile, "Yeah?" 

"About Sanzo---" 

Oh no. Goku gulped. 

"I would really like to know if his violet eyes are real...I mean, you know. Are they...well...." 

"It's been there ever since I met him." Phew. He continued, "And I think it's purple. But that's not really a big deal." He saw a reaction from her. He couldn't tell what but he's sure she reacted. 

Then, there was silence between them. Goku just continued on smiling. He figured out that he must have looked like some idiot smiling for nothing at all as she lowered her head again. He wanted to talk...but how would he start it? 'Uh Eli, what's your favorite color?'..no! That's not exactly the best way to start a conversation. 

Then as if God noticed his dilemma, Eli looked at him and gave him a smile, "So, what's your favorite food?" 

He grinned and suddenly relaxed. 

And so that started Eli and Goku's lengthy talk. The two talked almost everything under the sun from food to fighting techniques. He found out that her name was derived from a legendary place that was suppose to grow some rare violet colored roses. They talked about her family and how she misses them. They exchanged ideas about people and their thoughts about the world. She told him many things about her world and he in turn, gave her astonishing facts about his. They talked and talked as time passed by quickly. 

But for the first time in his life, Goku got to feel something---something different. He wondered why Eli trusted him so much since she told him almost everything there was to know about her. There may be lies, but it's still surprising that she talked to him. Then and there, he realized what a wonderful person the Vah was. Then and there, he got to know Eli much better and figured out that he really liked her. He felt like she was the Big Sister she never had. The gods were suspiciously kind to him... 

They ended right before Sanzo entered the room to call them down for dinner. And as they went down, the talk was still fresh on their minds. And both of them liked it very much. 

*** 

Sanzo twitched his face when Gojyo tried to seduce Eli again. But it didn't look like seducing, it looked more like he was making a fool out of himself. Then he grinned, what the heck? Seducing or not, Gojyo's always making a fool out of himself anyway... 

_"Genjo Sanzo, I'm here."_

Suddenly, Sanzo felt something eerie. He knew that he's the only one who could hear that voice but he's positive someone's eyeing him right now. 

_"The guy at the corner, Sanzo. You don't need to worry about him, but his companion has far greater power... Come here."_

_"What do you want?"_

_"A talk about the vah."_

Eli pushed Gojyo jokingly and blurted, "That ain't big. It looks more like dehydrated tissues of skin!" Gojyo snickered and patted her head. Sanzo cleared his throat and walked away towards the back door, "I ran out of cigarettes." 

Gojyo looked at him suspiciously, "But you bought one yesterday. How come..." 

"The other brand." Then, he slammed the door behind him making all the costumers annoyed with him, which was of course nomal. 

Eli shrugged, "What's his problem?" And the three answered immediately, "Cigarettes." 

*** 

Sanzo stepped out of the inn cursing. Gojyo perfectly knew what he meant but why can't he just keep his big trap shut? Now, he had to deal with another company again. He shook his head dismissing the thought about Gojyo and looked straight at the tree. A woman with long ebony hair stared grinning at him. 

Sanzo rolled his eyes, "Kamatayan." 

*** 

Eli excused herself and went straight to the bathroom. She's sure if she doesn't go now, her stomach will have a serious problem. With all that food, it wont be surprising if she'll suddenly bloat. 

Goku sighed and asked Hakkai, "Where do you think Sanzo went?" He may be a monkey but he knows Sanzo really well. And that didn't look like Sanzo was going to buy cigarettes. He's betting Sanzo was going on a fight or talking to someone important right now. 

Hakkai shook his head, "I don't know but I think he's just at the back." 

Gojyo slumped, "What do you think he's doing?" 

"Talking to the tree." Hakkai pointed at the window and grinned. Sure enough, there was Sanzo--talking to the tree. 

Gojyo and Goku looked at each other quizzically, "eh?" 


	8. As It Was

Author's Notes: Thanks for all your reviews. I would really like it if you will give me mo

Author's re advices since I really think I need them. Again, I'm sorry if the Sanzo-

ikkou are a little bit OOC, please don't get mad. Honestly, I don't know how to continue this fic anymore... Oh, this'll probably be the longest chapter I've ever wrote. And beware, it may be boring... 

Disclaimer: I own Saiyuki...hahaha. 

*** 

CHAPTER 8: AS IT WAS... 

_1,000 years ago; Eleezyienne_

"Gods or no Gods, it's all the same. People will live in this world, grow in this world, suffer in this world, die in this world and no matter how they deny it, heaven will just be a dream. People' will just rot below and it changes nothing but people themselves..." 

"What the hell are you talking about?" 

It was a fine day and as usual and the gods had nothing to do. Being a god is so boring and nobody can take away the fact that gods aren't that holy after all. If being a god means boring your ass off, then any good-for-nothing filthy bastard can kiss their sorry mothers and go straight to heaven. 

The hill, green and lovely as it was, looked so distant from the palace of the gods. The wind caressed everything it passed. The meadow below was a paradise filled with the most beautiful flowers one can ever imagine, the birds soared so high that it seemed they will never tire of flying, and the trees stood brilliantly shading short grasses that sprouted right beside its roots and all together, the place was breathtaking. On top of the hill... 

"You have no right to comment that way, Vah." A man with striking violet eyes and long black ebony hair turned to look at his constant companion. He gave her a sharp look and sighed. She in turn, nudged him and patted his head. She gave him a funny look and imitated him comically, "You have no right to comment that way, Vah." She giggled and patted his head again. He shove her hands off and shrugged, "What are you doing here?" 

"Lady Rei's calling you again." 

He twitched his face and turned away. How vexing, how vexing indeed. That woman will never be satisfied. When will she stop pestering him and giving troubles enough to last his entire existence? Isn't it enough that she had given him such an annoying little brat for a constant companion for eternity? 

_"Am I stuck with you forever, vah?"_

_"Unfortunately, yes."_

He glared at her and warned, "Stop that." 

She giggled again and looked at him innocently, "Stop what?" 

"Reading my mind." 

She chuckled and put her hands behind her neck, "You know, Blair. You need help." He raised an eyebrow. She shook her head and continued, "Why don't you just do what other gods do?" 

"What? Make an ass out of myself?" 

She rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically, "Haha, no. You know, take care of people and stuff like those. Come on, Blair. It's--" 

He snapped, "God, you're supposed to call me god. I am the Spirit God." 

"Blair--" 

"God!" He looked at her sharply and turned away. 

She sighed and picked a blade of grass, "You know what, Blai--- I mean, my god? I'm honestly so sick and tired of your passiveness. Why don't you just ,for once, enjoy what you have? You're never contented of anything. That's what's wrong with you." 

He sighed and sat down, "You are in no state to tell me what's wrong or not. You're just a Vah." 

She looked at him and sighed again. This is pointless. Blair will never change. Look at that face. So empty. She sat beside him, "You want to talk about it?" 

Blair didn't open his mouth for such a long time until they both felt like they'd go insane of the deafening silence that surrounded them. She was right. He was never contented of anything. And he'll probably never be. 

Just as she was about to loose her mind of the silence and just kick his ass and make a run for it, she heard him clearing his voice. She smiled to herself. That means he's talking and that's good. He cleared his throat again. She frowned. That means he'll have a sermon and that's bad. As he began, she slumped and gave out a long sigh. 

"You know why heaven is called Eleezyienne?" 

She shook her head and looked at him. Yup, the sermon has officially started. As he paused, she wondered how long she will have to listen. Last time, it was five hours of pure hell. He kept on talking about the imperfections of humans and their stupidity and even though she didn't understand a thing he said, she still stayed with him until her butt went numb and she had to let her sister massage it. The pain... 

"Stop thinking about your ass going numb. I'll cut it off." 

Yikes. She gulped and blurted, "So what about Eleezyienne?" 

"Eleezyienne and its name right? Ah. Have you ever been to the Forbidden Forest?" 

She rolled her eyes, "It's FOR-BID-DEN." 

"Right. Well, the forest is infested with nasty violet colored roses and poisonous berries. The roses are called Eleeiohn and the berries, Zyiennalush. If ever these two are combined, they can make a very mysterious potion called 'Eleezyienne'." 

"That's just stupid. Why would they name heaven that?" 

"Exactly. It just proves that great as we are, we're no better than those stupid humans below us. But in a sense, you could even say that humans are greater than us." 

It was her time to raise an eyebrow. 

"Instead of doing nothing with their doomed lives, they try to make it better by doing something. It doesn't matter whether it's useless or not, at least they're doing something. And that changes everything around them. Gods may think that people are weak and helpless and dirty, well sometimes they are, but they refuse to think that they have far greater power than us. They have the freewill, and we are imprisoned in our own thoughts. And that changes everything as it is." 

She suddenly went serious. She doesn't like the way this conversation is going, "You're not to leave Eleezyienne, my god. I will stop you at any cause." 

He looked at her. 

_"How stupid, Vah. I can always escape you and you know that."_

_"I'll try."_

_"Trying is useless."_

_"Still."_

They looked at each other, their faces showing zero emotions. Suddenly the atmosphere was filled with laughter. They looked at its source and both rolled their eyes when they saw who it was: Spade, the god of fire. 

Spade is the Fire God. He's admired by most people because of his charms and his ability in combat strategy. The girls go gaga by just looking at his flaming red hair and radiant purple eyes. The boys burn with jealousy but they can do nothing because he's a god and they're not, and that makes him laugh like there was no tomorrow. But in Eleezyienne, he's branded as a complete idiot, a fool, a dumb-ass, a jerk. You get what I mean? 

"Ooh. And I thought you'll do the nasty stuff then and there! Man, you guys are hot!" 

She looked at Blair confusingly and asked, "Nasty stuff?" 

Blair shook his head and called out, "Go away Jerk." 

Spade twitched his face and pretended that he was hurt, "Oh now, I'm a jerk?" 

"Why are you here?" 

"Rei called us an hour ago. We sent the vah to look for you and bring you back but, " He looked at her and smiled, "Apparently, she got destructed." 

She lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry." She bowed so low that her forehead was already touching the ground, and that sight just made Blair so disgusted that he snapped and dragged her as he followed Spade with quick angry strides. The fire god was rather amused. 

*** 

"Where have you been?" Zhehn boomed just as Blair entered the room. All the other four gods were already there. Obviously, they were quite annoyed and not only one rolled his eyes in disgust as Blair entered the room. 

Zhehn was seated right at the middle. Beside him was an empty chair where Blair's supposed to sit. Facing these two were four smaller chairs. At the far right was Thene, the god of Earth. After him was Sarah. the goddess of water. Next to her was Rei, the goddess of wind. The last chair was for Spade, the Fire god. The room was big and spacious, not to mention, very well decorated with its silky blue curtains and blue marbled wall. There was a table engraved with delicate ancient inscription in sapphire between the the two gods and the four. All together the room was like a big sapphire gem. 

But the room didn't look inviting with Zhehn's murderous look. Blair wasn't afraid, though. They can never touch him. He looked directly at Zhehn's icy violet eyes and answered in a low voice, "The hill." 

Zhehn nodded slightly and looked at the vah as if dismissing her. But Blair stopped her holding her hand tightly just as she was taking her first step away. She looked at him searchingly. 

_"Stay here."_

_"Zhehn's angry enough. I'm not invited."_

_"You're invited. I'm a god, too."_

_"My god, Zhehn's fuming mad. I'll just wait in the other room beside the door. If you need something, I'll jus---"_

_"I want you here with me, vah."_

Blair said, "She's staying with me." Sarah stood up and looked at him angrily, "That's enough, Blair." She turned to the vah and snapped, "Go away or else." The vah looked at Blair and bowed low. She stepped back and began to disappear. 

_"Thanks anyway."_

Blair sighed. 

*** 

Zhehn looked at his siblings and closed his eyes. There was a long silence and each was all ears. He then started, "He's here." He opened his eyes and continued, "Darkness's here. He destroyed the thirteenth chamber together with Halai and the others. One mercenary spotted him in the forbiddem forest. He has the third eye and he's not too happy about his imprisonment. He's coming, here...in Eleezyienne." 

*** 

"What now?" Sanzo asked lighting a cigarette. He hoped it won't be another problem. There's enough to last him a lifetime. 

Kamatayan grinned, "Problem." 

"Kuso." 

"The thirteenth chamber was opened yesterday. Darkness escaped. The legend is about to start, Sanzo." 

*** 

Eli sighed in relief after her lengthy pooping. She wiped her sweat with the back of her sleeves. Then she noticed the three gawking to the window beside them. She looked at them confusingly, "What's up?" 

Gojyo replied still looking at the window, "Sanzo is talking to the tree." Goku chuckled a bit and asked, "Should...Should we report this to a lunatic asylum? I mean, he's practically...disturbed." 

Gojyo grinned, "Poor Sanzo. Maybe he had too much cigarettes. Oy Hakkai, Will too much cigarettes turn you into a..." 

Hakkai smiled cutting him, "No, Gojyo. It'll just make you really sick." 

Eli sat beside Goku and looked. Her eyes grew bigger, "He ain't talking to the tree. He's talking to--someone very familiar, a woman with long ebony." Then she stopped, "Kamtayan?!" 

Gojyo and Goku looked at each other confusingly, "eh?" 


	9. Revealed Friendship

Author's Notes: Thank you for the reviews and the advices. 'Need more advices! ^_^* This chappie will just be a short one! 

Disclaimer: This is just purely fanfiction. 

*** 

CHAPTER 9: Revealed Friendship 

_1000 years ago; Eleezyienne_

Zhehn looked at each of them, then he continued, "The Watchtowers were destroyed, the Seal of Nature broken, the Key of Eleezyienne stolen. Everything is in chaos, we're hanging to the very end of our rope. You may not notice it, but we're all wasting away. Thanks to our Vahs, we're lucky to be still existing. But I don't know when we'll last." 

Everything was in silence. It should be, for this is the first bad news they ever had. They knew that Darkness would eventually break the seal but they were confident he would rot to hell inside the thirteenth chamber. Guess they were wrong. 

"The vahs, our last support, are disappearing one by one. The seven strongest are dying and when they do, it'll be our turn too. We can't let that happen so we have to move, do something." He closed his eyes again and there was a long pause. Then he continued. 

"That's why you're here. I devised a plan to stop Darkness from whatever he's about to do and we need to work together on this. It'll going to take everything we have." 

"What's the plan?" Blair had other plans but he figured out that it's better to listen to this. Strange, but he seems to be really worried about his Vah, the violet eyed rebel he and Rei found in the forest. Yeah, he's greatly annoyed with her--to the extent of giving her a good slap in the face-- but deep inside he knew that he liked her. And he's thankful she's not here to read his mind cause if she was, he'll probably kill himself. So, he better stop this thought and just concentrate on the matter on hand. 

Zhehn cleared his throat, "The first thing to do is to lock the gates of Eleezyienne. He may have the key but he can never do anything without knowing the sacred spell. Next is to counter attack their aura by creating some kind of a barrier repulsing evil. So if ever they manage to enter they gates, we have to make sure that they get weakened somehow. This barrier may kill, too, and that's good. I know how to make this barrier but we need time to discuss the technicalities. Lastly, we need to train ourselves for one week at Mt. Lehnash. We need all our strength to fight Darkness and Halai, it's about time to release what we've got." 

"Remember, Darkness is a god. And we don't know what kind of power he has but I promise you one thing, we WILL succeed. This is for our survival. For if without us, everything around will be destroyed. We are the gods." 

Zhehn raised his hands and everyone followed...except Blair who was rather disturbed of the fact that the plan sounded so desperate. He knew there was something wrong. It's better if they should focus more what's around them not themselves. 

Sarah rolled her eyes, "What now, Blair?" 

Blair looked at them. He never knew how stupid Zhehn was. Tapping his fingers, he proposed his ideas, "What if we take care of the vahs instead? They ARE our life support and if they die, we're useless. So, what's the point in making ourselves strong if in just one snap we'll die without our vahs anyway? I think we should protect them---" 

Thene cut him and shook his head, "You have a point there, brother, but you forgot one little thing. What about the Vah's Curse? It stated that no matter what, vahs should always protect us. And if we ever do that, we're going to be weaker." 

"So? A little suffering won't---" 

Zhehn blurted obviously annoyed with Blair's prospect, "That's the point. We can't be too risky." 

Too risky? What the hell? So attacking Darkness directly, without even knowing how strong the guy is, is a 'SAFE' plan? Blair shook his head slightly. 

Sarah turned her head away and held her nose in the air, "Stop it with the vah. Is that a pity excuse for loving your vah, Blair?" 

Blair glared at her, "Watch your mouth, bitch." 

Zhehn snapped, "Watch your mouth, Blair." 

Blair sighed and stood up. There's no use. He produced a glowing ball and placed it in front of Zhehn, "That's probably half of my strength. Use it, but I'm not going to take part in anything you'll do. I'll go on with my plan." He turned around and walked away. 

Zhehn looked at his back and burst, "Damnation, Blair!" 

Blair stopped for a while and shook his head. He proceeded and closed the door behind him with a loud bang. He have to talk with his vah. 

*** 

Blair looked around the room and saw his vah sitting at the far right corner. She leaned on the wall, her face showing that of great fatigue. She was looking straight on the floor and when she heard him enter, her head shot up. He looked at her worriedly and she gave him a weak smile. He walked towards her and seated himself beside her. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

She looked at him innocently and asked, "Tell you what?" 

He looked down and sighed, "That---that you were dying." He looked up at her and saw that her smile was gone now, replaced by a look that he would never forget. She looked so weak, and he wondered how in the world did she ever protect him. 

She sat up and shrugged, "Vahs die, my god." She forced a grin and patted his lap. 

Then as if struck by some mushy something, he blurted out, "You're not just a vah." _Great Blair. You've made yourself an official idiot_. He shifted uncomfortably. 

She smiled, a real smile this time. Yes, he maybe sometimes a jerk...but he can be very lovable too. No matter how she denies it, she knew that she's won't trade anything to be Blair's Vah. He never treated her badly. Not like other gods who think that vahs are the lowest kind of being. He may have his occasional mood swings but she knows he's always sorry for some impulsive act he might have done. That made her wonder. What is she to him then? 

She raised an eyebrow and asked teasingly, "What am I to you then?" 

_"A friend."_

She smiled to him and nodded. She took his hand and informed, "You're not just my god, too." 

Her hands are very warm. It was very pathetic for him to blush, but he just can't control himself. _Ok, you're now a complete moron Blair. Congratulations. Now stop blushing and go on and be a god. Gods don't blush._ But his senses betrayed him once more. He blurted, "What am I to you?" 

She grinned. 

_"A friend."_

_***_

_On the other side of Eleezyienne, the prophecy was being made. The first chapter opened for the world to do. Everything was quiet for now. But everyone knew the worst was yet to come._

_Beyond the forest, a great number of unknown beings with long pointed ears and malicious faces were being created by a witch named Halai Saiha. She was accompanied by her sister who was called Alahi Saiha. They were the greatest magicians that ever existed in this world, but what made them so peculiar was their strange devoted worship for a god that was believed to be non-existent. He was Darkness, the god of Death. _

_"We've finished producing a thousand, my god."_

_"Good. Are they ready for combat?"_

_"My god, they were made for combat."_

_"Good. I'll call them 'Youkai'. Demons."_

_***_

"I don't care about the legend and all those junk. I want to know how to subdue Gyumao's castle and territories." Sanzo replied looking at Kamatayan irritatingly. It wasn't his fault that he became guide to someone he doesn't give a damn. 

Kamatayan grinned, "But don't you want to know why you're the guide of the vah?" 

"I don't care." 

Eli shook her head confusingly, "What guide?" She haven't caught Kamatayan's complete statement, but she did hear something about the guide. But why would she talk something about the guide to Sanzo? 

Sanzo cursed. He quickly answered not looking at her, "None of your business. Go back inside." 

Eli looked at him confusingly, "But I want to know about---" 

He turned to her and pointed his gun towards her, "Go back." She maybe a vah but he's really pissed off right now. And she wasn't supposed to follow him. 

Kamatayan looked at them both amusingly, "eh?" 

*** 

eleezyienne: My head hurts and I'm really sick. Sorry for the typos and everything you don't like. 

*Please review and give me more advices. 


	10. Ignorance

Author's Notes: Thank you for the reviews. I've been having a great problem with this fic but now, I'm beginning to solve it one by one... Thanks to all your help especially my nee-san! You're great! ^_^ ! 

Disclaimer: Yah di yah di yah... 

*** 

CHAPTER 10: Ignorance

_1000 years ago; Eleezyienne_

Thene sighed as he watched Blair and the vah talk from the corner of his eye. He had nothing against them, but it was painful to watch his brother ending up in a doomed relationship. It was probably better if he had fallen in love with a human. In such a case, destiny might have been kinder.

But a vah? It was hopeless! Not only were they considered to be mere machines, but they were also reputed as being the lowest life form. Maybe it was because they were 'programmed' to only follow gods...or because of the fact that they weren't gifted with a heart. Or maybe both.

Thene was the god of the earth. He was the most passionate, most sentimental, most loyal, most caring god and because of this, he was probably the most beloved god of all. People called him "The God of Nature and Life," which is very fitting for him. It was, after all, his idea to create animals and plants and probably all of nature.

Every spinster constantly worshipped him, and not just because they admired his modest look, flowing dark brown hair and concerned light violet eyes. Zhehn called him his right hand. Rei called him 'Dearest Brother'. Sarah called him 'The Humble One'. Blair calls him 'Brother'. Spade called him 'Emotional ball of mushy guts' - which is probably the best compliment the fire god can ever make to an emotional ball of mushy guts. All in all, everyone liked him.

He was always concerned about everything. He spent most of his time worrying about things that didn't even concern him. "That Blair...my unfortunate stubborn brother..."

"Yeah, and I wish I could give him a good lashing! Hanging out with that bitch… Who does he think he is? Leader of all gods?" Sarah butted in, letting her anger loose like she always did around Thene.

Sarah was the complete opposite of Thene. She didn't care for anyone except herself, herself and…herself. Just like Blair, she was never contented with being the goddess of water. She wasn't even satisfied that she was probably the most beautiful of them all, what with her aqua-colored hair and stinging purple eyes. According to her, she deserved better capabilities, better powers... not just wet stuff. No matter how Zhehn explained to her that she was born that way, she still couldn't leave things like that. She wanted to be the best in everything, and because of that she was branded as a bitch. Zhehn called her a bitch (secretly), Rei called her a bitch, Thene called her 'disturbed sister who needs psychological counseling', Blair called her bitch and Spade called her bitch, too, except that he sounded proud about it when he said so.

That didn't stop her for being so goddamn obnoxious. She hated lowlifes, includes humans and vahs (surprise!). Because of her violent and negative attitude towards humans, she got the title, 'Goddess of Destruction'.

Evidently, she wasn't too happy about that. So, in a fit of rage, she destroyed half of the world hoping to teach humans a lesson. And with that she earned her complete title as 'Goddess of Destruction and War'.

Thene gave her a smile, "Well, they share something special, you know. And don't forget that the vah was created directly from Blair's heart. That means she's a part of him, and vice-versa. With that, they can do almost the same things at the same time, they can read each other's mind which, is very strange and thing, plus---"

"Stop it with the ancient history, ok?" she cut off irritatingly, "They're just a bunch of unruly children. To hell with them!" She sat down and pouted.

Spade's face twitched. "To hell with them?" Then he grinned. "Aw, don't hide it Sarah. We all know you like Blair." He chuckled and did a rather disturbing pantomime of how Sarah would act if she were in love: "Oh my, Blair. Kiss me! I'm your sister, but I don't care, just kiss me!"

"Shut up."

"That's incest, you know."

"Shut up!" Sarah threw a shoe towards Spade, but as usual the fire god managed to dodge it with great ease.

Sarah glared at him. How she hated that perverted freak.

"Incest, incest, incest, INCEST!"

"SHUT UP!"

The door suddenly burst open and out came Rei, who looked like she had just gone through hell. She crossed the room, all the while glaring at Spade and Sarah. "Ok, knock it off children."

Sarah turned away from Spade and pouted again. "HE started it."

Raising a brow, Spade chuckled and grinned. "Oh yeah? It's the truth you brother-loving bitch." He messed up Sarah's hair and dashed behind Thene, who had a smile plastered in his face all the time.

Sarah stomped her foot then, all the while trying to get her hair under control. "See?!"

With a sigh, Rei rolled her eyes and seated herself. Did they have to fight every time they met? It was funny sometimes but it got really annoying at other times. She crossed her arm and glared at them both.

Rei was the goddess of wind. She was adored by everybody, with her bluish silver hair and caring but firm bluish violet eyes. She was not the most powerful but she did have her way with them all. She was probably the most respected and beloved goddess, not that she had any competition. She was also the most understanding and the one tasked to take care of the people's love life and destiny. Because of her tedious work with all the love pairings, she had also become the most hardworking and the most frequently weakened. She did almost all there is to do for humans. That's why humans literally worshipped the ground she walked on. And with that she earned the title, "Goddess of Love and Mercy".

After a while, Rei looked down and took a deep breath. Her face reflected so much exhaustion. Immediately, the atmosphere of the room shifted. Rei may not have been the strongest but she had never shown a single hint of weariness in all her life.

But for the past few days, they had noticed that she was growing weaker day by day. Zhehn confirmed that she had lost three of her vahs, and two more are destined to die before long. They couldn't blame her. It was mainly their fault why she was really working herself to the limit.

Rei heaved a sigh, "I'm not going to last long. You know that don't you?" She lifted her head slowly to look at them.

Everybody avoided her gaze. It was too painful to look at a dying sister, especially when you really loved her. Rei forced a smile and told them, "Everything's falling apart. We all know something will happen, eventually." She walked towards the window and leaned on the wall. "The wind has been telling me things. Horrible things. The end might be near, my dears."

Thene tried to comfort her. "Don't say that, sister. We're going to get through this. We created Darkness. We can destroy him too..."

Sarah smiled and added, "Yeah. I just know we'll win."

"Yup, so stop talking about the end or whatever...It's just going to make me more queasy..." Spade slapped Sarah's back so hard that she had to take his hand for support. But he meant well.

Rei looked at them and nodded. But this wasn't the truth. She knew how things would end but she was not going to interrupt the flow of destiny. It was going to be a sad end. But the story was just beginning; it has not yet begun. The wind has been telling her things...so many things...about the Book of Prophecy, about Darkness, about Halai, about the Youkais, and about the attack that was going to happen tonight...

_"Tonight..."_

***

Eli took a step backwards and stammered, "But-but I want to-to know about my-my guide." She couldn't believe what Sanzo just did. How could he point that dreadful gun at her? And he was supposed to be a monk! One thing she hated was a deranged religious freak with a revolver ready to shoot her head off anytime now. She gulped hard and looked at Kamatayan.

Kamatayan smiled amusingly. Now, she understood the situation. But why would he keep his real identity from her? It won't change anything... She rubbed her chin and thought of some plausible reasons the monk might be considering. Is it because he hated the responsibility? 'Could be. But that's too shallow for him. He must have thought about something else...But what could it be?

Sanzo didn't care much. Actually, he didn't really care at all. He looked at her coldly and commanded, "Go back, Eli." Why couldn't things be just easy for him? He hated kids. He hated female kids. He hated female vah kids.

But Eli had no intentions of going back. She was dead scared of the gun facing her, not to mention the one holding it. Nevertheless, she was determined to know about the guide. It was the closest she could get to...

"I'm not going anywhere."

***

It was a fine afternoon. Blair and his vah were on top of THE hill, as usual. It had become a habit for them to 'hang out' there and just talk their asses off. She didn't really like the idea of wasting her saliva all day but it was much better than being ordered around by some bossy god whose only pleasure seemed to be watching a vah suffer, suffer and suffer some more!

However, he enjoyed every second of their talk. Blair felt like he was free by just talking to her. Yes, it was a pathetic loser kind of thing but he felt more liberated. And he liked that.

"I'm having a really hard time calling you vah." Blair started looking at her as he laid back and just relaxed. "Don't you have a name or something?"

She chuckled and lay down beside him, "Name? I wish I had. But you forgot my god, Vahs have no right to own anything. Not even a name." She felt a heartrending feeling but she quickly dismissed it. Vahs weren't supposed to feel that way.

"And you're ok with that?"

She hesitated for a moment but finally nodded in response. "I am, after all, just a vah." She looked at him and smiled as she added, "Even though I'm a friend, I'm always going to be a vah."

He nodded and sighed. "I wish I can be as free as a bird." He felt bad about what his vah just said. But she had a point. He couldn't change who she was; she'd just be a vah forever. And he'd just be a god forever. And both of them would always be trapped in this beautiful hell with only their thoughts and each other to comfort them.

Forever?

How he wished to be a bird flying so high...

A bird passed them and they watched as it flew across the endless sky. Then suddenly he heard her chuckle. He looked at her as if he was asking what made her laugh.

She smiled at him and looked directly at the sky. "Who said birds were free? For if without the branches where they rest their tired wings, they will sooner or later be trapped in the never-ending sky...until they just drop down and die."

Blair smiled and nodded in consent. His vah wasn't stupid at all. "But I made up my mind, vah. I'll name you."

She laughed at the futility of the idea but she asked him anyway, "What will be my name then?" She loved times like this, when the both of them are just talking their minds out, not caring for anything. Just talking.

"From now on you're going to be called---" He looked at her as she waited half anxiously. He grinned and concluded, "Well, it's a secret. I'll tell it to you when we get back."

It was near sunset and it was a long way back to the palace. The sky was slowly turning into a deep shade of crimson. It was magnificent and awe-inspiring. Who knew? This just might be the last time they'd ever see a sunset like no other: a sunset in Eleezyienne.

_"If only I could stop time, Vah. I'd like to stay a little longer between the day and the night."_

_"If only…"_

_***_

"Sanzo, what happened?" Hakkai called out looking at the two worriedly. They were puzzled when Eli just ran out of the room in a heartbeat. She looked like she just saw a zombie, which scared them a bit. But they chose to stay behind, wanting to know how things would go.

Hakkai was having a weird feeling that there was actually somebody talking to Sanzo. When you had a contract with the goddess of love and mercy - or any other gods, for that matter - something like this can happen. Not just the tree, although it was kind of funny to imagine Sanzo going mad and all.

When Sanzo pulled his gun however, that was the time when they had to dash out of the room, much to the customers' irritation.

"What are you doing Sanzo?" Gojyo asked again. He was a close friend of Sanzo, but pointing a gun at an innocent girl is another thing. Besides, you never know if the guy really flipped out or not...

Eli glimpsed at the trio and sighed in relief. At least, she was sure that Sanzo wouldn't fire anymore. He'd never do that in front of them of course...would he? She gulped and finally got enough courage and called out to Kamatayan, "Tell me! What were you and Sanzo talking about?! Something about my guide!"

Hakkai relaxed suddenly and sighed. He was right. Apparently, Sanzo was keeping something from him too. And just when he thought he had the upper hand...

Eli looked at Kamatayan angrily, "Tell me, Kamatayan." She was at the end of her rope and who knew when she'd blow up? She just had to know. She just had to.

Gojyo and Goku had never been so confused in their life before. They looked at each other and sighed in frustration. "Eh?"

***

eleezyienne: Again, if you want to flame me... just give me a private message. I'm open for anything!


	11. Heaven No More

**Author's Notes**: I'm back to being stuck again…Woe is me!

**Disclaimer:** Saiyuki isn't mine, na-uh.

**

**CHAPTER 11**: **Heaven No More**

Kamatayan sighed and slowly removed her cloak. She didn't like the idea of revealing herself to a bunch of infidels but she WAS, after all, the guardian of Eli. Plus, she figured out that it's best to finally get this thing over with. They haven't started the Journey yet and it was high time they should. She looked at the Sanzo-ikkou and heaved a much heavier sigh. She REALLY didn't like this idea. Speaking in her most mysterious tone, she set her cloak aside and snapped her fingers, "Be prepared to see an DEATH."

And she appeared slowly, before their very eyes. Eli smiled thanking Kamatayan silently. This would mean that she was ready to tell EVERYBODY everything. Her eyes told her so. She looked at everybody to see the reactions. As expected, Gojyo and Goku wore an even stupider look while Hakkai forced a smile scratching his head. She turned to Sanzo and saw him roll his eyes and cursed. And when he saw her looking at her, he gave her a sharp look and looked away. How she wanted to give him the finger!

Sanzo cursed as he saw the bitch, Kamatayan, spread her arms. There's little chance he's going to keep his secret anymore. Damn that Eli! He regretted for not shooting her when he had a chance. So what if she's a vah? He kills humans and demons. And it wasn't such a bad idea to murder a vah. But then, all he could do now is sigh his butt off.

Kamtayan cleared her throat and wasted no more time, "I am Kamatayan. I'm a person from somewhere you probably haven't heard of before. I hate introductions so I think I'll skip that part." She looked at Goyjo and Goku and chuckled seeing their confused looks. Then she added, "I bet you want your heads to be cleared, right?" She was met by a bunch of sarcastic smiles. "I'll take that as a yes. Well, let's start off to a story about heaven and well, heaven. It's an ancient legend forgotten by your people." She smiled and grinned, "This is going to be a long tale. Once upon a time…"

**

Both of their eyes widened in shock. They couldn't believe what they saw. They knew this would happen but they never expected it to happen NOW. Blair took a step backwards as he watched the Palace of Heaven, his home, burn before his very eyes. He was caught dead on his tracks. His body grew suddenly stiff and even though he wanted so badly to move, it seemed that nature opposed his will.

Blair felt his knees weaken, his head throbbing in pain, his heartbeat booming violently, and just when he couldn't hold it any longer, his Vah held his hand and shook him violently.

"Get a hold of yourself, my God!" the Vah's shout was a mere whisper in his ear. But it was enough to bring him back to consciousness. "My god!"

Blair shook his head and gulped hard after he sucked in a great deal of air. "What-what happened here?" It was a stupid question but the palace burning was even stupider. He looked at the worried stricken Vah and lowered down his head.

Her answer was a sudden pull. She had to drag him inside the palace to save the other gods. She, too, was shocked at the sight of the palace burning. However, she had a hint that something was about to happen that day. There were many signals, and not only once did she saw Death smiling towards the palace. Maybe that's why she had the sudden urge to go THE hill. Staying in the palace had been really uneasy that day.

She led him to a small shed not far away from the interior gates. There, she did everything to snap the hell out of the stunned Blair. She let him sit down and with her fingers, gently stroke his hair. She had learned that the hair of the gods were considered to be nerve endings from their brains…which was of course kind of icky to think about, but it was REALLY simpler that way. She used her right hand to stroke him while the other was slapping his face softly. In a whisper, she told him to take it easy and relax. It wasn't the end. The gods were smart and anytime now, they'll appear out of nowhere safe and unharmed. Like they always do.

"Smart? Us? Gods?" Blair replied half unconsciously. He was still in the state of shock but he WAS slowly recovering. "We have never been smart."

"Sshh. That's not true. We'll just wait here for a couple of minutes and we'll see what'll happen. If nobody comes out, then I'll go and take a look."

Blair didn't reply. All he did was to look past his vah into the blazing inferno that was supposed to be his home.

_"Home?" _

**

Spade opened his arm and shouted as he let out a massive ball of fire killing the invaders instantly. An arrow passed by him and he ducked as he heard another being shot by a guy beside him. Irritated, he dashed towards him and knocked him out with his fists that was blazing in blue fire. "Where the hell did these things come from?"

Sarah lifted up her hands and released a gush of boiling water towards those positioned in the ceiling. "I don't know! You tell me." She evaded an attack and immediately tore the attacker into pieces with her 'Sword of Ice'. "Forget about that! Where are the others?!"

Spade shook his head as he kicked another, "Beats me. We better go. I'm getting pissed off. Nobody told me there was an attack!" Sarah rolled her eyes and looked at him sarcastically. She produced her sword again and slashed her way to Spade. "There's too many of them!"

Spade sighed in frustration. He clutched a guy in the collar and gave him a head butt. After that, he grabbed hold of his dagger and closed his eyes. He concentrated for a moment chanting a spell of some sort. Then he opened his eyes and shouted, "TO HELL WITH YOU!!!" Instantly, the room exploded with him and Sarah escaping the hellhole.

**

Thene pounded his staff before him and opened his eyes slowly. The ground cracked open burying those unknown beings down below. He twisted it and stopped when it faced directly to the rest of his opponents. He closed his eyes again. Suddenly, pointed rocks fell down out of nowhere. The invaders were killed in no time. However, there were about five hundred of them and Thene was having a hard time since he had to protect Lady Rei, who was hit by a poisoned arrow in her abdomen.

"Stay with me, sister." He whispered softly in her ears as he surrounded them selves with his force field. He was never the warrior type and it was probably better for him to shield himself than to kill. "Sister, hold on. I'm sure the others will be here."

Sure enough just when countless poisoned arrows were shot towards them, the fire god and Sarah barged in. As Sarah hit the invaders and Spade burned the speeding arrows, Thene couldn't help but notice how pissed off the both were. Their eyes were cold and unforgiving and in amazement, he realized that he, too, was fuming mad. He knew they were from Darkness, but he never thought the guy would attack.

"We should all go to the Sapphire Room. Zhehn must know of this." Thene called out right after Spade finished the last batch. Spade rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Yeah right." The palace was burning down and they obviously don't have much time now. He figured out that Zhehn must have escaped already. But Sarah shook her head and sighed, "It's better if we should go. It's our responsibility."

So amidst the crumbling structure and the fire, the four elemental gods entered deeper to the Sapphire room, the territory of the God of Heart. Unfortunately, they all forgot that it was the same room where Darkness was created.

**

"I have to go, my god. They've been inside long enough." The vah whispered softly as she slowly let the Spirit God lay back. "I'm going to check on them."

"I'll go with you."

"You can't. I'm going." Blair wasn't exactly the strongest god but he can surely be really stubborn especially at the wrong time. "I can manage. Trust me."

After a moment of hesitation, she finally heaved a sigh in retreat and shrugged it all off. "Let's go then."

**

"So, were they met by some opponents?" Sha Gojyo asked impatiently. All of them were paying attention to Kamatayan. It's as if they themselves were in the story, for the characters in it seemed vaguely familiar. Cho Hakkai almost felt he could picture Thene as himself. Sha Gojoy related well with Spade and Sanzo had a hunch that Blair was actually his past life. However, Goku, couldn't find anybody like him and that made him wonder, "_What about HIM?"_

Kamatayan grinned, "Well, there was a bunch who were in their way but the vah managed to crush them one by one. Finally, they reached the Sapphire Room together with the elemental four only to find Zhehn being murdered in the hands of Darkness. They witnessed how Darkness sucked Zhehn's power slowly and after that disgusting episode, Zhehn's limp body was thrown aside. Nobody dared to move for they were staring at the eyes of death itself. And they knew that Darkness would engulf them eventually. Their hopes were all gone now, now that they saw how the strongest of them was murdered like that. They had absolutely no chance since all vahs were killed now. Well, except for one. And this one was different from them, this one was ruled with her will and her heart and that made all the difference…"

**

Thene couldn't hold it much longer. He was slowly losing every inch of his powers and he knew he'll collapse anytime now if this keeps on going. "I- I'm getting tired." He shook his head slowly and tried to stand still but his strength betrayed him and he couldn't do anything but wobble like some old geezer on the brink of death.

"Hold on, Thene." Spade held his brother's hand as tightly as he could. He's not just going to stand there and do nothing while his brother slowly dies, "Don't push it too hard." He looked at Sarah sharply and snapped, "Don't you just stand there and gawk at them. Do something!"

But Sarah couldn't hear anything. She couldn't believe what Darkness did to Zheho, the truth suddenly became much more clearer and the horrifying fact that she forcefully ignored was slowly happening before her very eyes. They're not invincible. They can stop existing after all. Closing her eyes, she surprised herself as she wished that she were born human instead. At least, humans can reincarnate. Gods will just disappear. 

She raised her head and looked murderously at Darkness. Then quick as lightning, she broke Thene's shield and attacked him. She charged him with her Sword of Ice desperately trying to stab him. But he was much more stronger and in a short moment a loud scream echoed in the corridor of the palace. And Sarah disappeared.

Blair's eyes slowly widened, "NO!!!"

**

Kamatayan closed her eyes, "Yes it was very sad. Poor Sarah." She sighed as she shook her head and continued, "To make the story short, Thene gradually began to lose his powers and it didn't take long for him to finally collapse. Some said that he died together with Lady Rei for she, too, lost all of her strength. It was believed that they died holding each other. 'Tis a sad thing indeed."

"After that, Darkness began to focus his attention to the rest of the gods. Spade and Blair were ready to do battle with him. It was a desperate fight but at least they tried. They knew hope was gradually fading away and that defeating Darkness is impossible yet they persisted, almost like annoying pest on the fields or some hoard of lice on your head. However, their efforts weren't completely useless. They're lives weren't just wasted for the sole sake of vengeance and hatred. They endured the pain to give ample time for the Vah to power up. For short, they had a plan."

"You see, only the sapphire sword can banish Darkness to the eternal space beneath the earth. And only vahs have the strength to control it. So with their last ounce of strength they fought as the vah and Blair were racing to the other side of the room. Right before the two gods disappeared, the Vah finally got hold of the sword and in an instance, stabbed Darkness in the middle of his back."

Goku smiled and eagerly asked, "So, they did it!"

Kamatayan heaved a sigh and looked up the skies, "They did the task, indeed." She sighed and looked at Goku steadily. For that brief moment, right before she spoke, her eyes suddenly became sad pools of mirror reflecting her true nature and it told them what she really was--- the compassionate old lady who cares. Then she smiled sadly and continued, "Alas, there is a grave matter bestowed upon the Sapphire Sword. And the vah was cursed, never to step in heaven again. The gods will return but never will she."

"Oh, that sucks." Gojyo muttered. He scratched the back of his neck and took a glimpse of Eli. He wasn't stupid and he knew that somehow, Eli must be connected with this vah. Or she may just BE the vah. He can't really tell but there's no reason to be hasty, he'll know it---soon.

"Yeah. All things suck. Nevertheless, the vah knew this and she accepted her fate. Surprisingly, Blair had no clue about the curse. Either that or he must have forgotten, for confusion suddenly showed in his lovely features as the vah slowly dropped to the ground. She bid goodbye as if it was the most natural thing to do and this hurt Blair even more. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, so many confessions he wanted to make, so many dreams with her, and so little time. And in her last minutes, he held her like he had never held anyone before and did his final curse. After the mysterious curse, he whispered the name he had given her. With her last breath, she thanked him and she perished. And he kept on holding her."

"And that one REALLY sucked." Gojyo muttered bowing low. They were silent for a while until Kamatayan began to stand up straight. They looked at her, and saw that she was alarmed.

Then, the earth shook. Dark clouds suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The winds started to blow strongly and the trees, stout and mighty as they looked, began to bend downwards. It was mid-morning but the sun wasn't there anymore. And for a moment, Eli wondered in fear how quickly the weather changed in this world she had gotten herself into. Shortly, she could see smaller rocks rising up the air. Frightened, she turned to look at the others then her eyes widened in fear.

There was no one around her.

No one but Sanzo.

She opened her mouth to speak to him but as if in a scripted play, nature opposed her with a deafening strike of thunder. Her shouts were useless because the sound of banging things suddenly surrounded her and unexpectedly, the tree behind her clashed towards her. She managed to stumble her way avoiding a near death by an inch. But right before she rose up, the ground she was standing on suddenly cracked and in no time it broke apart sending her to fall in a deep abyss.

Then a hand grabbed her.

But she was still falling…

**

eleezyienne: pls. r& r!


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